I don’t know about you, but I ship Bode and Chloe so hard on Fire Country, and Max Thieriot and Alona Tal’s chemistry is a big reason why. It makes sense too; the actors just so happened to play a couple for years on SEAL Team. However, according to Thieriot, his history with Tal also presents a challenge for their new fictional relationship.

While Bode and Chloe’s relationship is just getting started, Thieriot and Tal’s is not in its early days…not even close. They played a couple for years on SEAL Team, which you can see by watching the show with a Paramount+ subscription. So, I asked Thieriot ahead of Season 5’s premiere on the 2026 TV schedule how that impacts their work on Fire Country. He said it “impacts a lot,” and then explained one of the challenges they face because of their past:

It was Thieriot’s idea to hire Tal to play his love interest, and it was a great one too. However, I do see the challenge they were up against on Fire Country. While they have the chemistry down, Chloe and Bode don’t have a deep past. They are just really getting to know each other, which means their actors have to pretend like they don’t know each other.

To be clear, while this is a challenge, it’s a good one. As Thieriot told me, it’s not really “hard”; it’s just “different” for him and Tal. They had to start fresh after playing an established couple for so long on SEAL Team. Explaining that point fully, the co-creator of Fire Country said:

At the end of Fire Country Season 4, Bode and Chloe were together, and things were looking hopeful. So, I can’t wait to see how their relationship grows in Season 5.

So, how much of Tal will we see this season? Thieriot wouldn’t give me a specific answer. However, he did say they “want Alona around as long as [they] can keep her,” and he said that this season we get to “ really invest in [their] relationship and go through the ups and downs” with them. Specifically, the Bode actor told me he’s looking forward to seeing how their characters go about adjusting their lives to fit each other into them, especially since Chloe is a teacher and Bode is a firefighter. To quote Thieriot when it comes to this storyline:

Well, I know I can’t wait to see this! And even though Thieriot said his history with Tal does come with a challenge, that one minor thing is far outweighed by the benefits that come with their history.

Now, to see these two actors back in action as Bode and Chloe, you can catch the new (and shorter) season of Fire Country on CBS every Friday at 9 p.m. ET starting October 9.

Spoilers ahead for the Season 9 premiere of FBI, streaming now with a Paramount+ subscription!

The Season 9 premiere of FBI hit the 2026 TV schedule on Monday, and it was full of action and emotion. After the Season 8 finale ended with a shocker that saw OA get fired and join an off-the-books strike force undercover, OA’s status in the new season stayed largely the same. He was still undercover with very little contact with his team, and unfortunately, he got some devastating news at the end of the episode that he was not looking forward to. Now star Zeeko Zaki weighed in on it.

In the episode, “Rendition,” OA remained on Anna Vorpe’s strike force, trying to get more intel on the team’s unorthodox ways of getting information – i.e., torture. After an asset died, OA went to Isobel in the hopes that he had enough, but alas, he didn’t. She told him that someone was basically protecting Anna and the team, and they were untouchable, meaning he had to get in closer. Being cut off from his team and working with another whose values don’t align with his has been hard, and Zaki told CinemaBlend how OA is going to deal with it:

While Maggie and OA had a couple of brief reunions in the premiere, he’s been undercover for three months. It’s taking a toll on not only him but everyone on the team. Isobel and Maggie are aware of what he’s doing, but for Jubal, Scola, and Eva, they still believe that OA was fired for real and he’s never coming back. So not being able to relay that kind of information to the rest of his team is hard, and with the way he reacted when he was talking to Isobel, it’s getting harder for him.

As Zaki pointed out, Anna doesn’t know what OA is up to, at least for now. He’s been undercover before, and he’s had to get himself out of some pretty tight places, but this is different. He’s keeping secrets from his team, he’s digging himself in pretty deep. It’s hard to tell just how long this undercover op will go on for, but it’s not going to be easy.

Meanwhile, the undercover op has not only been hard on OA. Maggie has had trouble with the entire situation, between not having much contact with him and getting a new partner who she’s still trying to get used to. She and OA did have an unexpected reunion during a raid, and OA was forced to hit Maggie to keep up the act. They later had an actual reunion that was much quieter and more secure, but it was clear that it’s been difficult for both of them. They're a top TV partnership, and it's hard not to see them together.

There is no telling how this whole undercover storyline will go, but it seems like there is still a lot to tell with it. And it’s unknown which way it will go. Tune in on Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS to see how it all turns out in Season 9 of FBI.

Kyace Dutton is so serious all the time, and that’s been true since the first time the Dutton family member appeared on screen in Yellowstone. Now, with Marshals airing on the 2026 TV schedule, we get to see more of this serious and oftentimes stoic character as he goes through a new chapter of life. However, while Luke Grimes’ cowboy-turned-marshal is all business on-screen, the actor is not like that at all when the cameras aren't rolling.

When CinemaBlend interviewed Grimes’ co-star Ash Santos – she plays Kayce’s friend, co-worker and maybe potential love interest Andrea – ahead of Marhsals Season 2 premiere, we asked who makes her laugh the most on set. In response, she started by saying everyone does. However, she ultimately landed on Luke Grimes as the guy who gives people the giggles:

What I’d give to see footage of Luke Grimes making his co-stars break. I’d especially love to see the Season 2 bloopers, because now that this cast has been working together for quite some time, I’m sure the inside jokes and hilarious moments have gotten funnier.

Plus, considering Grimes is one of four cast members on Marshals who is reprising his Yellowstone role while the rest are the new kids on the block, I’d be curious to know if his history with the franchise impacts his jokes and relationships on set. Overall, this story from Santos shows how well this cast gets along, and it proves how funny Grimes is (especially in comparison to his character).

Since his Yellowstone days (which you can watch with a Peacock subscription), Kayce has been going through it, so there isn’t much time for jokes. On Marshals, he’s specifically grieving the death of his wife, Monica, and he’s adjusting to a new job. So, he’s not exactly making people laugh while he deals with all that.

Behind the scenes, it’s a different story, though, because Grimes’ sense of humor really gets his co-star. Personally, I’d like to see a bit more of that on screen. Or maybe we could at least get a gag reel, because Santos did tell us that “the bloopers are so good.”

Well, now I’m hoping for a few more jokes from Kayce. However, for now, this fun story about the man who plays him will do, seeing as I’m very entertained by the idea that the actor can crack a joke and then immediately fall into character.

Now, to see Luke Grimes’ very serious marshal in action, you can catch new episodes of Marshals on CBS every Sunday at 8:00 p.m., and you can stream them the next day with a Paramount+ subscription.

Big Brother's 1000th episode was a milestone moment in Season 28 for a couple of reasons. In addition to the wild twist that resulted in Haley Thogmartin's elimination, Drew Campbell disappointed many BB Legends by refusing to blindside the Icons over FAP and voting his ally Mallory Aurichio out of the house.

Those watching Big Brother's online live feeds later revealed that Drew heard groans from the audience when he cast his vote, signaling he disappointed them. When Mallory left, he peeked out the door and saw many memorable BB winners and Houseguests he grew up watching. He knew he let them down, and Drew exclusively told CinemaBlend that it altered his game from that moment on:

I didn't necessarily clock that at the time, but in hindsight, Drew did make some big promises he never kept. The biggest was breaking his vow to protect Yash Patel in exchange for winning the veto in the Pressure Cooker competition.

Readers might remember the smile across Drew's face when he voted to evict Yash. As he explained to CinemaBlend, that was because he already assumed that his favorite former Houseguests and maybe the bulk of fans hated him for his previous game moves. He continued:

It's interesting to hear Drew's rationale, and to wonder what might've happened had that moment never happened. Would he have turned on the Icons? I'm not so sure, as evicting Mallory more or less locked him in with the vets, as they slowly went to work dismantling the rest of the FAP alliance.

As someone who thought Drew had already lost Big Brother well before the end of the game, it's fascinating to get this added context. At this point, he was just doing what it took to get to the end, and hoping he got the right pairing to get the victory. In his defense, it might've worked had he won the Final HOH, but losing in both Part 1 and Part 2 sealed his fate.

The good news for Drew is that it seems more Big Brother fans like him than not. He finished in the top 3 of America's Favorite Player, along with winner Rick Devens and Yash. It also seems like many would love to see him play again, where he'd be the veteran, hopefully without any icons to impact his game. Would he play any differently, or would he sit right back on the fence and play the middle?

Big Brother has two more seasons on the way, and we'll have to wait and see whether Drew gets invited back or anyone else is involved in Season 28. It really does feel like we're past due for All-Stars 3, but whether the producers agree with that remains to be seen.

Listen, Big Brother fans are knowledgeable enough about the show they know about the mental health struggles the contestants face both during and after the CBS competition series. However, there’s one post-show benefit the show gives houseguests I didn’t know about until former contestant Taylor Hale blew the lid off her experience this week.

Hale appeared on “The Reality of Reality” while Big Brother 28 was still airing its most recent season. The Season 24 winner’s been around for Unlocked this season, and she’s done some press for the franchise as part of it. While there, she was asked about therapy on the show, and what happens when contestants need it, when she dropped a post-series benefit I hadn’t known about.

This is a really cool, thoughtful bonus, and I wonder how long Big Brother has been offering it. We know, for example, the toll being cloistered takes on houseguests, who have to lie and maneuver around their roommates while also cooking, cleaning and spending all of their time together. Then, there’s the toxic fandom aspect those same houseguests often face when they get out of the house.

Hale also mentioned there’s critical help you can while on the show, so it’s not like the houseguests who make it near the end or become the ultimate Big Brother winners don’t get any support while inside. She elaborated:

Hale went on to reveal the latter would happen over the phone and not in person, which adheres to the no contact rule pretty clearly, though I’d be willing to bet medical periodically does have to break that rule. Still, I think it’s nice they get support outside of the house, particularly given how clear contestants like Ameerah Jones have been about needing that mental health help. It’s one of the reasons Big Brother doubtless still ranks as one of the best reality shows.

Houseguests Often Feel Unable To Shake The Game

Haley Thogmartin spoke with CinemaBlend as part of her exit interview for Season 28. She told us there’s a lot about existing outside of the house that guests take for granted, and it’s only when you exit you start to realize how hard it can be to shake the game. Take sleep for example.

She also told us she’s had moments where she thought her mic was still plugged in, but the sleep thing was really the biggest thing. She said she’d think she might get chided for napping during the day, or breaking other rules that are no-nos on Big Brother. Clearly, it takes a period of adjustment, and while Haley seemed to be doing relatively well when we talked to her, particularly after having had a hard time in the house, I could see the longer or more strenuous runs requiring more mental help afterward.

Ultimately, Rick Devens won Season 28 of Big Brother (despite getting rooted against) and he did it by betraying his TV “son” Drew. Drew’s taken it well, probably better than Devens’ real-life kids did, but I honestly think some “family” therapy may be in order there. At least we know CBS is footing the bill.

Warning! Spoilers are ahead for the Season 2 premiere of CIA on the 2026 TV schedule! If you haven't caught the episode yet, I really suggest you read one of our other excellent articles.

Following a successful first season, the second season of CIA is officially here. The FBI offshoot kicked off Season 2 with action, twists, and even a cliffhanger that kept fans hanging on the entire hour. This includes killing off someone at the start of the episode, and again I cannot express more vociferously that I'm about to get into spoilers for the Season 2 premiere.

The good news? While Nick Gehlfuss' Bill is central to the episode, he's very much around. It was his dad who died, though that actually wasn’t even the most shocking part. The showrunner shared his take on the whole situation with CinemaBlend.

Less than a year after the show officially kicked off, CIA is back with “The Deep." A few months have passed since the Season 1 finale, and a lot has changed. Unfortunately, one of those things involved Bill, as we learned early on his dad had passed.

This wasn't a massive surprise. Season 1 saw Bill struggling with news of his father’s declining health, and he just got worse in the premiere. His father’s death was really hitting him, and he didn't really open up about his feelings. It even started affecting his job and relationships, including his partnership with Colin (Tom Ellis).

This grief won’t be going away so easily, as showrunner Mike Weiss shared with CinemaBlend this is the start of a storyline and not the end.

Losing a parent is hard both in fictional worlds and real life. For Bill, no matter how many times he said hew as OK, he was definitely not, and even Colin saw it. Which brings me to my next point. Bill dealing with grief is NOT the most shocking part. At one point in the episode, Bill found out his dad went to Georgia for something not even his mom knew about.

Here's Where CIA Got Really Interesting

With Colin’s help, Bill discovered his dad, an honest Army veteran, was actually in the CIA. No one saw it coming, especially the fact that an assassin who had already killed three CIA operatives might be connected to him.

Moving forward, this realization will lead Bill to question much related to "this huge secret." He told me he knows the audience is paying attention and there WILL be payoff. I can't wait.

Bill looked up to his dad. Now he knows this CIA secret, he'll start coloring every interaction he had with his father in a different way. Digging deeper into his father while still grieving will not be easy. Plus, there's an assassin involved. In short, he's going to be asking himself a lot of questions.

It’s obvious this storyline will be sticking around for a while, and there’s no telling what else Bill will be uncovering about his dad, but if CIA wanted to start with a bang, I think the show's achieved it.

Find out in new episodes of CIA airing on Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on CBS, streaming the next day with a Paramount+ subscription.

Spoilers ahead for the Season 9 premiere of FBI on the 2026 TV schedule.

FBI is officially back for its ninth season, and unsurprisingly, Monday’s premiere episode had quite a lot of action and twists. Following the end of Season 8, OA’s status remained unchanged for Season 9, as he went in undercover on Anna Vorpe’s strike team after getting fired from the FBI. After that episode ended on quite a shocking update, I had to ask the showrunner all about it.

In “Rendition,” a few months have passed, and OA is still on the strike team. He’s been working with Isobel and Maggie, trying to get more intel on her and what's going on, and it the situation hasn't been exactly forthcoming. He has learned this strike team uses torture and covers up civilian casualties, which is not what OA is about. While going undercover is part of the job, this one is particularly hard, and it’s not because OA’s keeping it a secret from half the team.

Showrunner Mike Weiss told CinemaBlend what it is about this job that’s taking a toll on him, and I hate to see it:

The Season 8 finale of the crime procedural already showed just how different the strike team is, and we got to see even more of that in the Season 9 premiere. With their morals on the opposite ends of the spectrum, it’s difficult for OA to be OK with what's going on. Unfortunately, he’s going to be staying undercover a little bit longer.

After discovering an asset the strike team had kidnapped had hanged himself, OA told Isobel in the hopes that that would be enough to bring Anna down. However, she told him the strike team’s action falls under a Title 50 national security exemption, which means it’s sanctioned. They’re untouchable.

As much as OA wants to get out, Isobel needs him to get closer to Anna and find out who is protecting her. Who knows how long this will go on, but the longer he’s undercover, the more difficult it’s going to be for Isobel to keep up the ruse back at 26 Fed, as Weiss pointed out to me when I asked about it.

Listen, so far, OA’s been able to handle himself and not raise any eyebrows on the team, but Weiss makes a good point. Only Isobel and Maggie know what OA’s really up to; not even Jubal and Scola are keyed in on it. Then there’s ADIC Green, who OA insulted and refused to follow orders from, and that could cause some problems down the line.

Of course, OA can’t stay on the strike team undercover forever. At some point, he is going to be back at 26 Fed, but how that happens and when remains to be seen. Hopefully, it’s soon because this assignment is already kicking OA in the butt, and I need him back at the FBI, especially since OA and Maggie are one of the best TV partnerships. And especially especially since we know there's a crossover coming down the pipeline.

We’ll just have to find out in new episodes of FBI airing on Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS, streaming the next day with a Paramount+ subscription.

Rick Devens spent nearly three months in the Big Brother house, but it was worth it, given he became the victor of Season 28. With that, Devens had the privilege of bringing that grand prize money back home to his wife and kids. He was thrilled to see them, but as he revealed to CinemaBlend, they had mixed feelings after seeing him evict Drew Campbell during the finale.

CinemaBlend caught up with Devens after his big win, and after asking why he wouldn't say Big Brother was better than Survivor, I asked what it was like seeing his family for the first time in months. He confirmed it was great to see his children, Jack and Juju, as well as his wife, Becca, yet he was surprised to learn why his kids were so emotional:

Devens originally planned to take Drew to the Final Two with him on Big Brother's finale night, but a last-minute pitch from Taylor Brown caused him to reconsider. He felt like he could beat Drew, but he felt even more sure that he could beat Taylor. Devens had to make a move to win Big BB, so he cut Drew and evicted him ahead of the final vote.

Despite the clear look of devastation on his face, Drew agreed that Devens made the right move to Julie Chen Moonves upon his exit. Later on, Drew spoke to PauseRewind about his eviction and revealed the sweet moment he had with Devens' son upon his exit:

That's amazing to hear, and now that he's an honorary Devens, perhaps Drew can use that to get on another celebrated CBS series? I know so many people are pitching a Dee Valladares and Devens pairing up for The Amazing Race, but I'd prefer to see Drew and Devens instead.

It's also great to see there are no hard feelings between Drew and Devens after the game. Big Brother has some pretty famous feuds amongst Houseguests, and we've seen close allies have a fallout thanks to a move made in the finale. Nicole Franzel famously unfollowed Cody Calafiore after her eviction in Season 22, after they had a game relationship similar to that of Drew and Devens.

A more recent example would be the ongoing feud between Morgan Pope and Big Brother 27 winner Ashley Hollis. The two former Houseguests seemed to like each other during the game but have since publicly thrown insults at each other ever since Ashley cut Morgan and took Vince Panaro to the Final Two instead. Thankfully, we haven't seen anything like that with Drew and Devens.

Big Brother is renewed for another two seasons, and with Legends of the game feeling some type of way about Devens winning, it may be time for another all-stars season. I'd be down to see it with all the new Houseguests I've grown to love, with a couple of them being featured on the 2026 TV schedule. The only question is, would it be too soon for Drew, Dee and Devens to return?

Spoilers for the book-to-screen adaptation of Verity are ahead! You can catch the movie in theaters now.

Immediately after I saw Verity, the ending was all I could think about. After Lowen read that manuscript and then found the letter from Verity after she and Jeremy killed her, I couldn’t help but wonder what was true and what wasn’t. It was an ambiguous place to leave things, and it made for a very fun viewing experience. However, that was not always the ending that was going to be used, and I talked to Anne Hathaway and the film’s director, Michael Showalter, about all this.

Before Verity premiered on the 2026 movie schedule, Colleen Hoover, who wrote the book of the same name, told Today that the movie’s ending was the “biggest challenge,” and she saw “about seven different endings” before they got to the one we saw on the big screen. She said she was “blown away” by the one they landed on, and when I asked Anne Hathaway about this, the Verity actress told me that they got to this conclusion because the audiences made it clear that it was what they wanted:

The movie’s ending certainly is ambiguous, and it’s a conclusion that’s worthy of debate, because after Dakota Johnson's Lowen finds the letter where Verity reveals that everything she wrote in her manuscript was false, the film ends. We don’t know if Lowen did anything with that information, we don’t really know how she feels about it, and we don’t know if Verity’s manuscript or letter is the truth.

Showalter also told me that they tested the movie in front of “focus audiences,” and he spoke specifically to how they reacted to Lowen’s story ending. Recalling what they learned and the conclusion they came to, the director said:

In one alternate ending, Lowen was revealed to be the “master villain,” Showalter told Variety, and after the reveal it was going to cut to “Verity sinking into the lake and her eyes open.” However, as both Hathaway and the director told me, test audiences didn’t want a definitive ending. They wanted Lowen to be unsure about everything that happened.

So, that’s why they went with the final scene we saw. Instead of answers, we’re left with a big reveal and lots of questions, leaving plenty of room for debate about Verity, Lowen and Jeremy. Personally, I’m happy that’s the conclusion they ended on, and I assume test audiences are too. However, to see if you agree with this ending or not, you can see Verity in theaters now.

Big Brother Season 28 may be over, but the drama amongst its competitors hasn't exactly settled down. The season's runner-up, Taylor Brown, called out Angela Murray for a lack of "decorum" during the finale. After the show wrapped up its run on the 2026 TV schedule, Taylor told CinemaBlend about how the returning Houseguest really threw her off during the jury questions.

I had a chance to talk to Taylor about finale night and was curious as to whether she could see the jury as she addressed their questions. She confirmed that was indeed the case, which led to her calling out the former Season 26 Houseguest:

Big Brother fans also noticed Angela was animated during the jury segment, frequently shaking her head no or making big reactions with her face in view of both contestants. To be candid, a few Houseguests participated in this, but none as frequently as her.

I originally asked Taylor the question because I wondered if that impacted her responses at all, as she stumbled over words at times. She confirmed my assumption but added that this wasn't different than some of the behavior she witnessed while playing the game:

Taylor added that Angela's antics were unnecessary because she already knew she was likely getting second place to Rick Devens. While Big Brother legends might not have appreciated his win, she told CinemaBlend that his victory was well-deserved, and she wasn't upset about losing at all.

What she was disappointed about was how Angela treated her big moment as well as how personal it felt. Taylor said the blowback got into her head and led to a sloppier Final Two speech than she would've liked:

Just weeks prior, Angela told CinemaBlend she prided herself on not being the center of attention in Big Brother 28. Despite that wish, she had a few notable blowout arguments, some of which aired on TV. Her showdown with Jason De Puy, as well as her screaming at Haley Thogmartin, both received a lot of attention.

Big Brother viewers may question Angela's actions against Taylor, as it wouldn't be the first time she showed a distaste for her fellow Houseguest. She frequently took jabs at her gameplay, and at one point, asked the Crossovers if they could give Taylor an "awful week" when they were in power.

It does make me question the necessity of whether the Houseguests should see their fellow jury members, because it feels like Angela just created a new way for a Houseguest to "poison" the jury, as it were. Making faces during anyone's public speaking would be frowned upon in polite society, so I question what place it has in whether someone should win Big Brother.

All this to say, Taylor is happy she won $75,000 and is hoping to continue her career on reality TV beyond Big Brother. We'll see what shows are interested, and what Angela might have to say in response to the runner-up now that she's speaking out.

A major spoiler for Rolling Loud: The Movie lies ahead, so read on at your own discretion, comedy lovers.

There are plenty of R-rated comedies that truly earn their ratings, and Rolling Loud: The Movie proves itself to be among them. Writer/director Jeremy Garelick’s 2026 movie schedule entry sees a father and son head to the titular hip-hop festival, and the results are truly raunchy. Much of that lewdness can be attributed to Christine Ko’s character, Linda, who really gets a wild moment to shine near the end of the film. CinemaBlend has since spoken to Ko about the backstory of that crazy scene.

In the film, Linda serves as a volunteer at the festival and gets caught up in the mix as concerned father Hank (Owen Wilson) tries to find his 13-year-old son, Zion (Christian Convery) at the festival. Linda’s biggest moment, however, comes when she creates a distraction near the climax of the film by going full nude. Ko opened up about that scene while speaking with CinemaBlend alongside Garelick and admitted how “proud” she was of it. With that, Ko went on to reveal her own inspirations for the scene:

Ko had the idea, and she knew it could be accomplished with a merkin. But, as she explained, finding the right one proved to be easier said than done:

Many actors have indeed gone nude, especially for comedic purposes. As Ko mentioned, Jennifer Lawrence went all in on that while shooting 2023’s No Hard Feelings and didn’t use a body double. And, yes, who could forget Will Ferrell’s streaking scene in 2003’s Old School? Ko can now say she’s followed in her predecessors’ footsteps and, as she explained during our interview, she’d never felt more “empowered” on a set than she did when she got to help pick out the merkin. She also said this:

Ko didn’t just want to do the bush scene for the sake of earning raunchy glory, though. She further opined that “with comedies, you have to really push the edge, and that's what makes it funny.” The actress makes a good point in that some of the funniest R-rated flicks tend to push the envelope, and Superbad, Bridesmaids and The Hangover are among the best to do that. So now Ko can relish in the fact that her decision to “push the bush” is now forever immortalized on screen.

There are, of course, plenty of other wild scenes in Rolling Loud that are worthy of mentioning, and what’s wild is that Garelick’s teenage son, Zion, has a story credit on the film. Believe it or not, that’s because the film is inspired by Jeremy and Zion’s own experience at the festival when the latter was 13 years old. So, while the film may be full of raunch, it’s born from a father’s sweet memory of a close experience with his child.

So anyone looking for a wild music-related film should head over to their local cinema and check out Rolling Loud: The Movie, which is playing nationwide. And, if you haven’t seen the flick yet but still read through this story, you still won’t be prepared for Christin Ko’s wild scene.

Mike Colter has played quite a few roles over the course of his career, but his turn as Luke Cage in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is arguably what he’s best known for. Plenty of fans were disappointed when the character’s eponymous show was canceled in 2018 after two seasons at Netflix. Colter’s Cage has since returned, though, having done so in the Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 finale and will return in Season 3. Now, Colter is opening up to CinemaBlend about why his reprisal feels as weird as one might expect.

Ahead of Cage’s return amid the 2026 TV schedule, it’d been some time since he’d shown up in the MCU, with his last notable appearance coming in Jessica Jones’ series finale in 2019. Now, Colter is in a position to not only play Power Man again but to reunite with co-stars Krysten Ritter (Jones), Finn Jones (Danny Rand/Iron Fist) and of course, Charlie Cox (Matt Murdock/Daredevil). While promoting his new show, Cupertino, Colter spoke out his DD Season 3 experience and what it was like being back with his castmates:

Talk about experiencing déjà vu. However, Colter also said this about his long-hoped-for MCU reunion:

Personally, I can understand why it would be a bit jarring for Colter to be back in Cage’s shoes so many years after getting out of them. I mean, playing the character again after being away from him for several years is one thing, but also joining his fellow Defenders for DD Season 3 is a whole other surreal layer. So I think a “time warp” – not one caused by the time travel established in Avengers: Endgame – is a fitting way to sum up the feeling. In spite of that, it seems like the Evil alum had a good time.

Before Cage’s return was confirmed, Colter spoke quite frequently about the prospect of it happening (even whilst keeping his reprisal a secret). Colter gave fans hope this past January when he teased that he’d had “conversations” with Marvel about returning. Not long after, the actor also said that if he returned as Cage, he’d want to explore his position as the “Sheriff of Harlem” even more. Now that he is officially back, Colter is grateful, though it’s also made for an interesting work schedule for him:

It’s my hope that Cage won’t be doing next to nothing in Daredevil Season 3, which will be the show’s last. Fans probably shouldn’t worry on that front, though, as everything that’s been teased about the season thus far suggests it’s going to close out the show on a high note. I’m still bummed up about it getting canceled, but I’m feeling better after hearing Matthew Lillard (who plays Mr. Charles) call the final season “explosive.”

Needless to say, I’m pumped to see how Mike Colter and the other Defenders alums figure into the narrative. Also, once the season drops, I’m eager to hear some other BTS tidbits about what it was like for Colter to shoot specific scenes with his castmates. We’ll see what happens with the bulletproof do-gooder when Daredevil: Born Again Season 3 premieres in March 2027 and, in the meantime, stream the first two seasons as well as Luke Cage with a Disney+ subscription.

Have you ever wanted to go on an adventure in the Amazon? Welp, the latest of new horror movies, Beware Boiúna, might change your mind. In a similar vein to 1997’s (highly rewatchable) Anaconda, this new film about a group of people who find themselves terrorized by a big snake while in the South American rainforest. But, one especially nasty scene has nothing to do with fictional snakes. It’s about a real bug that can literally get under your skin, and CinemaBlend found out how the moment was pulled off.

When CB spoke to Beware Boiúna director Mike P. Nelson about his tastes regarding gross-out moments, he pointed to the making of one memorable scene. In his words:

A botfly belongs to a family of flies whose larvae live as internal parasites of mammals, and I’m shuddering even thinking about it. Anyways, in Beware Boiúna Will Close’s Callum gets some in his back and Jessica Rothe’s Alli extracts them out of him. As Nelson shared, the scene was accomplished practically. The filmmaker added:

Eww! But, that’s kind of the point though right? Nelson and co. deserve a lot of credit for pulling off such a scene using practical effects, though. The director also said this about deciding to have the scene in the film:

What's also unsettling is that Botflies are much more common than giant snakes, so people may really want to watch themselves if they're venturing into the rainforest. You’ll mostly find them in specific tropical regions like Central and South America like where the team on the humanitarian medical mission is in Beware Boiúna.

Of course, though, the main creature in Nelson's movie is a one-hundred foot long mythical serpent who’s famously talked about in Amazonian folklore. It’s depicted in this new film as a terrifying force of nature that seeks to protect the jungle.

Not only is the film led by Jessica Rothe (who recently shared a Happy Death Day 3 update), but it also stars Kiana Madeira from the Fear Street trilogy and another horror mainstay, Upgrade’s Logan Marshall-Green. Beware Boiúna is Mike P. Nelson’s fourth feature film following 2018’s The Domestics, 2021’s Wrong Turn and last year’s Silent Night, Deadly Night, each of which dwell within the horror genre. And he’s not leaving the genre as he’s been hired to make the next Saw movie with Blumhouse and Atomic Monster.

You can check out Beware Boiúna in theaters now. And, horror fans, it’s the perfect time to check out the 2026 movie schedule given so many are coming out this month.

Yellowstone may be done, but Kayce Dutton sure isn’t. Luke Grimes returned to his beloved role on the 2026 TV schedule for the new CBS spinoff, Marshals, and he wasn’t alone. He was joined by Brecken Merrill, who returned to play his son, Tate Dutton, and more. Unfortunately, Kayce’s wife Monica (Kelsey Asbille) did not come back, and it was revealed early on that she had died. Now, with Season 2 set to premiere soon, a Marshals star is weighing in on the fan reactions to Monica’s death and whether Kayce could move on with Dre.

Marshals' Ash Santos Opens Up About The Reactions To Monica's Death

When Marshals was announced, Asbille was surprisingly absent from the casting updates. It was eventually revealed in the series premiere that Monica died from cancer caused by toxic pollution on the Broken Rock Reservation. No one saw it coming, and Grimes himself was upset about the death. Plenty of fans shared Grimes’ feelings over it, especially given the fact that it happened off-screen. However, there were also critics of Asbille and her work on Yellowstone.

Now, with Kayce's relationship with Dre developing, Marshals star Ash Santos opened up to CinemaBlend about the reactions to Monica’s death and her adoration for Asbille:

Not surprisingly, those who weren’t fans of Monica have been wanting Kayce to be with someone else, such as Santos’ Andrea “Dre” Cruz. However, considering Kayce is still mourning his late wife and trying to raise their son while also still getting used to his new job, it might be a while before he even thinks about moving on.

Even though Dre and Kayce are seemingly getting closer, for Santos, what's going on is more about building their friendship and respecting his boundaries:

Having a friend be there for Kayce and his son is definitely what he needs the most, at least right now. And Santos is as understanding about that as ever, as is Dre. Whether or not either will eventually act on their supposedly blossoming feelings for each other is unknown. If that does happen, it may not be for a while.

How Ash Santos Feels About Workplace Relationships And Kayce And Dre's Potential

That being said, workplace relationships can be a bit complicated, as shown in basically every movie and TV show ever. Of course, sometimes it works out, and other times it stays complicated. So, if Kayce and Dre were to take that next step, they'd also have to navigate the fact that they work together.

Marshals has already started building up a workplace romance with Cal (Logan Marshall-Green) and Belle (Arielle Kebbel). Whether or not the same could happen to Kayce and Dre down the line remains to be seen. However, Santos shared her take on their potential relationship:

Marshals is only heading into its second season, and with the series doing so well already, it’s likely to stick around for at least a little while. That probably means the show will have time to build up a romantic relationship between Kayce and Dre, if that’s the way it’s going to go.

For now, fans will just have to settle for their friendship and work relationship as Kayce continues getting used to life without Monica. The Season 2 premiere of Marshals airs on Sunday at 8:30 p.m. ET on CBS, it will stream the next day for those with a Paramount+ subscription.

Spoilers for Verity are ahead! You can catch the book-to-screen adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s novel in theaters now.

When Verity premiered on the 2026 movie schedule and won the box office in its opening weekend, the debate about its ending continued. Much like the conversation sparked by its source material’s conclusion, this movie leaves you wondering what the truth is. That happens in part because of a letter from Verity that Dakota Johnson’s Lowen finds at the very end of the film that flips what we’ve learned from Verity’s manuscript on its head. So, when I chatted with the cast, I had to ask Johnson how that letter changed her character’s feelings in the final seconds of the movie.

What Happened At The End Of Verity

To break down what happens in the film, the majority of it follows Lowen as she moves into Verity (Anne Hathaway) and Jeremy’s (Josh Hartnett) house to write a book. While there, she finds a manuscript written by Verity that paints herself as a total villain. In it, Hathaway's character even admits that she was responsible for the death of one of her children.

However, at the very end of the film, Lowen finds a letter where the titular character admits the manuscript was a writing exercise and none of it was true.

So, that leaves audiences wondering what the actual truth is. Plus, this letter is revealed after Lowen and Jeremy kill Verity, and as they are moving out of the house. Oh, and Lowen is pregnant. Therefore, there’s lots to unpack with the discovery of the letter. However, nothing is. Johnson’s character keeps it to herself and leaves the house with Jeremy.

How That Letter Changed Lowen's Feelings

Obviously, I had to ask The Materialists actress about all of this and how the discovery of the letter changes things for her character. Here’s what she had to say:

I think both things Johnson described are in play. Lowen must be in some kind of denial after finding that letter, considering it implies that all the reasons she had to believe Verity was a villain aren’t actually true. Therefore, her and Jeremy killing her becomes even worse. Plus, she’s pregnant, presumably with Jeremy’s child, and comprehending a letter like this amid that massive life change has to be nearly impossible.

No matter how you shake it, though, Lowen is not reacting to it in a good way, as Johnson explained:

It seems to me that Lowen is trying to get a clean slate after Verity’s death, and that letter makes that even harder to do. Johnson thinks that despite its discovery, her character is going to keep moving forward and try to block out what she just found. To her, that’s “sociopathic.” To me, it further proves that Lowen is just as potentially evil as Verity.

Overall, this ending certainly gives folks more reason to talk about Verity, and the letter changes literally everything we’ve spent almost all of the movie’s runtime learning. Lowen’s reaction to it makes the conclusion even more convoluted. However, Dakota Johnson’s explanation helps provide a bit of clarity as to why her character decided not to immediately say anything about what she found.

As book fans and thriller lovers head to theaters this weekend to check out the book-to-screen adaptation of Colleen Hoover's Verity, which has finally arrived on the 2026 movie schedule, there's another highly anticipated adaptation of a buzzy book on the way: Caro Claire Burke's Yesteryear. As Anne Hathaway is set to star in and produce the upcoming film, we had to check in with her about it when we had the opportunity to interview her for Verity. Specifically, we wanted to know if there's any word on who might play Caleb, the main character's husband. While Hathaway wouldn't give much away, her Verity co-star, Josh Hartnett, did toss out his own preference, but he's probably a bit biased.

🟡 If you haven't read the book, I will post a warning when it's time to get into book spoilers in this article, so keep an eye out for that. However, everything up to that point is safe. 🟢

Who Will Play Caleb In The Yesteryear Movie?

When we found out CinemaBlend's Riley Utley would be sitting down with Anne Hathaway to talk about Verity, some of us at the site were very hopeful she bring us an update on Yesteryear. We were especially curious to know if there was anything she could tell us about casting for her character Natalie's on-screen husband, Caleb. And here's what Hathaway said:

So... basically she's not saying anything yet. Completely fair! We had to ask. But the conversation didn't quite end with that. Josh Hartnett, who was also in the interview, offered up his own response, saying:

My first reaction to his response was to laugh, not only because Hartnett seems to be joking in the way he throws his hat into the ring for the Yesteryear role, but also because he's literally there to promote a movie where he plays Hathaway's character's husband. "We can scare audiences again!," is how Hathaway responds to her Verity co-star with a grin. It was a cute bit, and then I actually thought about Hartnett playing the character, and now I really do think it'd be amazing casting -- and not just because I want to see Hartnett and Hathaway team up again.

Yesteryear centers on Natalie, a social media influencer who proudly shows her followers her life as a "traditional" wife and mom, living on a ranch. The twist comes when she awakes to find herself living in the 1800s on a ranch with a family she doesn't recognize. Understanding Natalie in both her regular life and this surreal situation she's found herself in, while also following her as she tries to figure out what is actually going on is what makes the book so hard to put down.

I've already gone on record as saying that Anne Hathaway is perfect casting for the movie adaptation, and now I want to talk about the idea of Josh Hartnett as the husband, because I'm here for it! The thing is, I can't do that without getting into spoilers, so this is your time to stop reading if you haven't read the book yet! Spoilers beyond this point! 🛑

Like Natalie, Casting For Caleb Needs To Be JUST Right (And Hartnett Would Be A Great Option)

🛑Spoiler alert: I'm about to get into major spoilers from the Yesteryear novel. Read no further if you haven't read the book! Seriously, don't spoil yourself.

Casting is always a big topic when it comes to book-to-screen adaptations, but the subject of who will play Caleb is even more interesting in this case, when we factor in the twist in the book. There are two versions of Caleb in the book, the one in her life as an influencer, and the older one in her 19th Century life. Whoever plays the role of Caleb will have the challenge of portraying the character two very different ways.

The passive, privileged man Natalie meets at college and starts a family with is, in many ways, very different from the gruff and aggressive husband she's married to in her frontier life. Whoever plays him has to be someone who can carry off both sides of that coin, and I really think Josh Hartnett is the kind actor who can pull it off well.

As Riley noted when she posed the question to Anne Hathaway, Burke mentioned a "Jesse Plemons vibe" being good for the character (in an interview with Variety). He'd be another great option, as he's proven he can play a timid character as well as he can play someone with a darker side.

Whether or not either Plemons or Hartnett are actually in any kind of discussions for the role remains to be revealed, but I do hope they find someone who can bring all of the layers of the character to life well. In the meantime, it's fun to speculate and consider who might play well opposite Anne Hathaway in this film while we wait fore more updates on the adaptation.

Fire Country is gearing up for its fifth season on the 2026 TV schedule, but things are going to look a little different. That's because the series is among the few shows returning to CBS that will be getting shortened seasons. While I’m sad that it’s happening, star and co-creator Max Thieriot actually feels differently.

Despite the fact that Fire Country continues to be a hit for CBS, the firefighter drama is only getting 13 episodes for Season 5 as opposed to the 20 the last two seasons have received. Now, Fire Country is one of my favorite shows, and I hate that we’ll be getting less of it. However, Thieriot gave his take on the whole situation while speaking with CinemaBlend, and I totally understand his point about why it's actually not a bad thing:

Not only is 20 episodes a lot for any show, but for a show like Fire Country, where there is so much action, it can take quite a physical and emotional toll on everyone involved. So, it's understandable why Thieriot isn’t particularly upset about the episode order.

That being said, he did share the fun challenge that comes with having a 13-episode season, and it makes me excited for what’s in store:

Sometimes the challenge of having a longer season results in having to drag out stories and do filler episodes. It sounds like Fire Country getting just 13 episodes is going to be a bit of an advantage, not just for the cast and crew but for the storyline.

This is not the shortest season of Fire Country, as Season 2 only had 10 episodes in 2024 following the Hollywood strikes, and it went pretty well. So I have complete faith that Season 5 will turn out great, and just hearing Thieriot talk about the advantages of having fewer episodes has me intrigued:

There are already some fun things planned on Fire Country for Season 5. The show is cooking up another crossover with Sheriff Country, which has actually been given a full season order for Season 2. Fire Country will also be introducing a new firefighter, Cecilia Jade ”CJ” Ryan, played by Olivia Thirlby. There’s no telling what else is going to happen in the new season, but Thieriot is looking forward to all the possibilities that come with having a shorter season:

Fire Country has not disappointed me yet, so I have high expectations for this upcoming season, knowing that there will be fewer episodes. There's a silver lining to the shortened season, and it sounds like there is still going to be a lot to be excited about. I can’t wait to see what happens.

Fire Country Season 5 premieres on Friday, October 9 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS, streaming the next day with a Paramount+ subscription.

Back when she was with Hallmark, Candace Cameron Bure became synonymous with Christmas movies. She continued to reign in the world of holiday-themed projects even after her transition to the Great American Family network. In fact, she does an average of two Christmas movies each year. So, it’s safe to say we had no idea working on a sitcom was “better than Christmas movies,” but Bure schooled us.

Before she ever boasted holiday cheer, Bure was bringing the laughs as DJ Tanner on Full House (which you can stream with a Hulu subscription), a role she loved so much that she revived it for the sequel Fuller House, alongside most of her co-stars. So when CinemaBlend spoke to Bure ahead of her Special Forces season premiering on the 2026 TV schedule, the conversation naturally pivoted to sitcoms. In her words:

It’s certainly understandable that she would want time to celebrate this new stage in life. She’s not only becoming a grandma once, but twice. Her son Lev Bure and his wife Elliott welcomed a baby boy earlier in August, while her daughter Natasha (and husband Bradley Steven Perry) is also expecting a baby. However, this personal update isn't really slowing her down, as she's still working.

These days, most of her time is spent solving mysteries and ringing in the holidays. Though after switching networks, she made a few changes to her Christmas movies, stating that she’s looking to tell “stories that remind people it’s never too late for redemption, healing, and love.”

Ironically, other than a few guest appearances, we haven’t seen Bure on many sitcoms outside of the Full House world. However, it's clear she wants to make that happen. It’s unclear what shows she has pitched or what sitcom she’d like to do in the future. However, her reason for preferring sitcoms is more technical than emotional:

That certainly sounds more breathable. Though I’m not so sure Bure is ready to give up on her holiday movies just yet. In addition to her appearance on Special Forces Season 5, she has two Christmas movies expected to hit the 2026 Christmas movie schedule before the year is up.

First, we’ll see her looking for a second chance at love in A Second Chance Christmas (previously One More Christmas) on October 10. Bure and Jonathan Scarfe play a divorced couple reconnecting after they’re stranded in a cabin over the holidays.

Then Bure has Sweet Christmas Anniversary with fellow Hallmark alum Cameron Mathison. They play a couple celebrating their first wedding anniversary on November 14. In non-Christmas news, Bure also has her Ainsley McGregor mysteries. The third in the franchise, The Case of the Watchmaker, came out at the beginning of the year.

While Bure doesn’t have a sitcom currently on her schedule, it certainly seems like it's something on her to-do list. So maybe next year we’ll see the actor get back to her roots with a role almost as iconic as DJ Tanner, and perhaps it’ll be something she’ll love even more than Christmas movies.

Tom Cruise’s big 2026 movie release, Digger, is here, and for once we’re not talking about the actor’s daring stunts and action set pieces. This time it’s all about Cruise’s performance as a wealthy oil tycoon, and I had to ask the movie’s co-stars about what it was like to see the movie star take on the character in real time.

In Digger, Cruise plays an aggressive, egotistical and eccentric fictional character – which is very unlike Tom Cruise’s own reputation. I mean, he famously gives out coconut cakes to just about everyone he knows during the holiday season. During CinemaBlend’s interview with Riz Ahmed and Sandra Hüller, I asked Ahmed if Cruise was checking in with him in between takes, because during their scenes there’s a lot of intense yelling in his direction. In Ahmed’s words:

It sounds like Tom Cruise absolutely lived up to his name on the set of Digger despite his very different leading role. As Riz Ahmed told us, the actor gave him a round of applause even though he had just messed up. Ahmed also went as far as to say his co-star was “insanely positive”. Hüller shared her own take on working with Cruise with these words:

In Digger, Tom Cruise completely changes his typical on-screen persona by wearing prosthetics, a bodysuit and going for a Southern accent. The performance has inspired some polarizing reactions, which Warner Bros. has been embracing head-on for its marketing.

Riz Ahmed plays Dr. Nirav Ganesh, who is Digger’s head of environmental safety. When Digger’s offshore drilling rig located near Greenland cracks a massive glacier that threatens to cause environmental disaster, Ganesh is the one to share the bad news and advise him on what to do next. As you can imagine, Digger doesn’t listen to the doctor much. Hüller plays the role of Emma Rockwell, Digger’s half-sister and business partner.

Tom Cruise came to Digger with a storied career already under his belt, but it sounds like one of the reasons for his continued success is the way in which he treats the others around him. It’s great to hear from Riz Ahmed and Sandra Hüller that he was a pleasure to work with even when he was playing a real piece of work on set.

The movie also features the talents of John Goodman, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jessa Plemons, Emma D’Arcy and Sophie Wide. You can check out Digger yourself in theaters now.

Rick Devens overcame the odds and won Big Brother Season 28. He won over a lot of fans in the process, including host Julie Chen Moonves. She famously didn't appreciate his pro-Survivor superiority stance at the start of the season, but softened ahead of the finale, admitting she was a fan. However, I am curious how she felt after she gave him the layup to declare BB the superior show, and Devens took the easy way out.

Rather than say he preferred his time on the island to Big Brother, or vice versa, Devens had another response prepared. Breaking news: he didn't take a side and said this instead:

As Survivor and Big Brother fans alike congratulate Devens for closing out his time on the 2026 TV schedule $810,000 richer, this disgruntled Big Brother fan wanted an answer. In my mind, if I played two games but won a life-changing amount of money on one, that's my favorite show.

Rick Devens feels differently. We had a laugh when I recalled the moment, and he explained that he couldn't lie and say he loved Big Brother more than Survivor. He explained why:

There's no denying he's media-trained, and I totally get the analogy. He's not going to be swayed into saying Big Brother is better, but he can see the advantages of both shows and appreciate them. Both changed his life, even if one handed him a life-changing amount of money before the other.

It's somewhat ironic that, like Drew Campbell, Rick Devens would play the middle on this topic. That said, I get where his head is at. There's no sense in shutting one door when you can leave both open and let the cash flow from both directions. Even if he's gained Big Brother fans, he still has a core of Survivor followers who have supported him long before some of us knew who he was.

Maybe it's me with the problem, and there doesn't need to be tribalism when it comes to liking Big Brother and Survivor. Plenty of people enjoy both shows, and we now have a winner who represents both. Devens is certainly one of Big Brother's most memorable winners as well, even if he did get a massive leg up that many of those other winners weren't given.

Jokes aside, Rick Devens made the right moves to win Big Brother, and the jury overwhelmingly agreed. I'm eager to see him compete on reality television again, and whether he'll have anything snarky to say about those shows as well.

Big Brother Season 28 is now available to stream in its entirety on Paramount+. After watching the live feeds all season, I'll need a break before I revisit it, but I'm excited to hear we already have two new seasons on the way!

Without giving away spoilers, I physically jumped multiple times while watching Verity. Many of those scares happened because of Anne Hathaway’s titular character. So, when I interviewed the cast of the book-to-screen adaptation, I asked if she ever made them jump. In response, Josh Hartnett and Hathaway told me how the actress scared the heck out of him while he was filming a scene that involved him kissing Dakota Johnson.

When I asked Anne Hathaway, Josh Hartnett and Dakota Johnson about jump scares on set ahead of Verity’s release on the 2026 movie schedule, the Oppenheimer actor was quick to recall the time The Odyssey actress got him good. Noting that he had been filming a scene that involved him making out with Johnson, Hartnett said:

Hartnett, who plays Jeremy in the movie, went on to say that while he and Johnson, who plays Lowen, were kissing in the scene, Anne Hathaway was looking for a place to hide so she wouldn’t be caught on camera. That’s when the actress stepped in to tell the next part of the story and explain why she needed to hide during the scene:

A lot of Verity is built on the suspense of Johnson’s character, Lowen, thinking she’s seeing Hathaway’s Verity -- who is, as far as they know, incapacitated -- move. So, behind the scenes, The Devil Wears Prada actress had to scurry out of the frame on occasion so they could pull off these suspenseful moments.

Before they filmed it, Hartnett thought that meant Anne Hathaway would just step off set and go to her chair. Or, in her words, “just be a normal person.” However, that is not what happened, as The End of Oak Street star explained:

Listen, if Anne Hathaway hissed at me, I’m certain she would scare the living daylights out of me. Well, that’s exactly what happened to Josh Hartnett too, as he explained to me:

Hathaway chimed in here to reiterate that her co-star was “so scared,” before he came back into the conversation to say:

What an iconic story. Now, I’m wondering if the actors Hathaway worked with on her other four 2026 releases (The Devil Wears Prada 2, Mother Mary, The End of Oak Street and The Odyssey) got spooked by her. Or, when she starts filming the Days of Thunder sequel with Tom Cruise, will she make him jump? Clearly, she has a knack for it, and really got Josh Hartnett, as she explained:

Well, along with Hathaway having great jump-scare skills, it sounds like Hartnett should get some appreciation for how he reacted. That’s because, while he got spooked worse than he’s been spooked in years, he still reacted in a cool, calm and collected manner.

Now, if you’d like to see how Josh Hartnett and Dakota Johnson’s characters react to Hathaway’s Verity scaring them, you can catch Verity (which is getting mixed reviews, but I enjoyed it) in theaters now.

Musical-related films remain quite popular as evidenced by the continued influx of excellent concert flicks and those upcoming music biopics. Now, the 2026 movie schedule is set to play host to a hip-hop-infused title, Rolling Loud: The Movie. As people can probably guess, at the center of the wild and raunchy flick is the titular music festival, which will serve as the backdrop for some wild shenanigans. Interestingly enough, a teenager has a story credit on the movie, and CinemaBlend asked the director about that.

Rolling Loud: The Movie comes from the mind of filmmaker Jeremy Garelick, who is known for directing films like The Wedding Ringer and Murder Mystery 2. His latest film, which stars Owen Wilson and Christian Convery, among others, sees a father take his teenage son to the aforementioned festival, and wild time ensues. When CinemaBlend spoke to Garelick – alongside cast member Chrstine Ko – we questioned him about his oldest son, Zion, supposedly having a writing credit on the comedy flick. Garelick then clarified that:

Honestly, it’s not all that often that you see a teenager get a story credit of some sort on a film, though Garelick was happy to give Zion the credit. That’s because the film’s plot is loosely inspired by the father and son’s own real-life experience at Rolling. Jeremy took Zion to the concert in 2022 when he was 13 years old and even briefly lost the boy. Considering the experience, the older Garelick felt it was only fitting that his son receive that credit. The Plan B producer further explained:

Those are truly sweet sentiments and emphasize the love this father has for his son. On the subject, Garelick also said:

Anyone who wants to know just how much the film’s story aligns with the Garelicks’ should know that just like Zion’s counterpart in the film, he made a PowerPoint to convince his folks to let him go to Rolling Loud. (Talk about really going the extra mile to get what you want.) The only difference between the presentation in the film and the real one is just “two or three” slides, according to Jeremy. The director also shared this:

And now that memory is immortalized on film, with Wilson playing Jeremy Garelick’s counterpart and Convery. Joining them in the film alongside Ko are also Matt Rife, Olivia Luccardi and Henry Winkler along with real-life hip-hop artists like Travis Scott, Sexyy Red and Ty Dolla Sign.

For over a decade now, RL has served as the basis for some major moments, like Kanye West’s unexpected dance performance and Nicki Minaj’s not-so-smooth set from 2023. So it makes all the sense in the world that Jeremy Garelick would want to make a movie that takes place at the festival, and what makes it even sweeter is that it’s something he can share with his son for years to come. Check out Rolling Loud: The Movie when it opens in theaters on October 2.

I’m obsessed with the fact that when you watch a show from Robert and Michelle King, there’s a high probability you’ll see an actor who appeared on The Good Wife in it. It’s happened a lot in Elsbeth, which returns on the 2026 TV schedule on October 8, and now, there’s potential for it to happen even more on Cupertino, which is the newest legal drama from the Kings.

For context, Cupertino is a legal drama set in the titular town in California. In it, Mike Colter, who had a recurring role on The Good Wife and was a star of Evil, plays Michael Price, a lawyer who has set out to take on high-profile and challenging cases in Silicon Valley. It will air alongside Elsbeth, so with the Kings set to have two shows this season that feature actors who appeared on their first big legal drama, I had to ask Mike Colter about the possibilities for crossovers.

Are Elsbeth And Cupertino Connected?

The short answer to the question of whether Elsbeth and Cupertino are connected in terms of plot is no. It’s worth wondering since Elsbeth is a spinoff of The Good Wife, but also features actors from TGW both as new and different characters and as the characters they played all those years ago. (For example, Nathan Lane played a totally new character while Sarah Steele came back to play her original character, Marissa Gold.)

However, Mike Colter made it clear that his show and Elsbeth really don’t live in the same universe, but they do live in the same multiverse built by the Kings:

So, don’t expect to see Elsbeth flying to California. While that’s kind of a bummer, it does make sense. These shows take place in two very different locations, they have different vibes, and Colter is not playing his Good Wife character, Lemond Bishop, in Cupertino. However, while there won’t be character crossover, there will be actor crossover, meaning this new series will do one of my favorite things Elsbeth does.

Could We See Anyone From The Good Wife Or Evil On Cupertino?

Considering Colter is one of the King's regulars thanks to The Good Wife and Evil, and Elsbeth’s tendency to bring on guest stars who have appeared on The Good Wife and more, I had to ask whether this kind of thing will happen on Cupertino. Here’s what the Luke Cage actor had to say:

Well, start guessing, everyone! As we talk about shows like Elsbeth and Evil, I can’t help but hope he’s referring to Michael Emerson, who played Judge Crawford on Elsbeth and Leland Townsend on Evil. When I threw his name out there, Colter joked that his Evil co-star is very into gardening, so he wasn’t sure if they’d be able to get him to “come out of the garden.”

From the Evil cast, it could also be fun to see Katja Herbers or Aasif Mandvi in Cupertino. However, while we should dream big about guest stars, we should also appreciate the fact that Cupertino already has multiple King alums in its cast.

Along with Colter, Renée Elise Goldsberry is an A+ Good Wife guest star who is a regular on Cupertino. She’ll play a character named Nichole E. Ferebee who has quite the history with Colter’s Michael. Plus, Rob McClure, who has appeared on Elsbeth, Evil and The Good Fight, is set to play a character named Bo.

So, we’re already off to a great start with Cupertino featuring actors who have appeared in The Kings’ back catalog of shows. Now, I just hope that even more actors from Elsbeth, The Good Wife and more can make an appearance on this new show.

To see if that happens, and to watch the two projects Robert and Michelle King currently have on air, you can catch the Season 4 premiere of Elsbeth at 9 p.m. ET and the series premiere of Cupertino right after that at 10 p.m. ET on CBS. To stream every single one of the shows mentioned in this story and to see these actors crossing over to other projects, all you need is a Paramount+ subscription.

Dee Valladares may not have won Big Brother, but the former Survivor winner proved she had what it took to last in the game. She even fell in love with the CBS competition series, which makes her an easy choice to return for a future all-star season or whatever the show cooks up.

With the 2026 TV schedule wrapping up its time with Big Brother, CinemaBlend submitted questions to Dee ahead of her trip to sequester ahead of finale night. I asked a hypothetical about what she'd do differently if she ever played again, and it should come as no surprise that she had to credit Rick Devens and how he played as her model:

I love that Dee owned up to the fact that she was a huge gossip and made moves strictly out of boredom. Sure, it made Big Brother Season 28 more exciting than it might've been otherwise, but it also cost her a Final 3 spot that Devens is in.

Dee didn't necessarily say she regretted how she played, but she likely understands that one can't play Big Brother the same way twice. She continued to explain why she worked the way she did, and assured CinemaBlend she'd be watching and thinking more on this topic:

As for whether Dee could return to play Big Brother, there have been many instances in the past where former Houseguests were welcomed back into the cast. There have also been many pleas for a third all-star season, despite how poorly the last one was received.

Variety reported an 8% increase in Big Brother viewership compared to last season, so it seems Dee and Devens did give the summer show an added boost. If they're bringing more ratings to a legacy show, I think it's easier to convince BB to find another season Dee can compete in.

One has to wonder how Dee would do in another season, especially one that may not grant her the same advantages she, Devens, and Angela Murray received as "Icons." They exclusively competed for the Week 1 HOH and, thanks to the fan vote, had first dibs on some of the best powers of the season. Dee benefited heavily from her BB Bribe, as well as the Diamond Power of Veto that Devens won that saved her from eviction.

Remove the powers and go into the house with the reputation that you backstab all your allies? Playing Big Brother a second time would be a rough journey for Dee, but I think she's enough of a gamer that she could find a way to survive.

It'll be interesting to see what all the Houseguests have to say about Big Brother Season 28 a couple of weeks after the season ends. Unfortunately, I'm already jonesing for another season, so I can't wait to watch it all again come next summer!

FBI is gearing up for its ninth season, which is set to hit the 2026 TV schedule in October, and of course, it's sure to be chock full of action and drama. It’s also been confirmed that there will be another crossover with the franchise’s newest spinoff, CIA, in the Season 9 premiere. While it’s exciting that the two shows are coming together again, one star has a great idea for more, and they shared it with CinemaBlend.

CIA premiered this past February, but it has already participated in a handful of mini-crossovers with its parent series, despite originally seeming totally separate from FBI. As the procedural heads into its sophomore season, it looks like that will be continuing. CIA’s Necar Zadegan will be appearing in the Season 9 premiere as Nikki Reynard, and while it hasn’t been shared what exactly will be bringing Nikki into the fold, Zeeko Zaki loves any chance of a crossover. Ahead of the premiere, he told CB why he enjoys the crossovers, and I can’t help but agree with his reasoning:

FBI has done a handful of crossovers, both big and small, in recent years with FBI: Most Wanted and FBI: International. With the show having the opportunity to continue those mashups with CIA, the storytelling possibilities are endless. It’s always fun seeing characters from the shows interact with each other, and you never know what kind of dynamics will come from them. I'm someone who watches a lot of network TV franchises, and crossovers, no matter the size, are one of my favorite things. With that, I’m just as excited as Zaki whenever one happens on FBI.

Unfortunately, while Zaki loves cross-pollination, he has yet to actually participate any involving CIA. He actually hasn’t been in a scene yet on FBI with his CIA buddies, and only Jeremy Sisto, Alana de la Garza, and Missy Peregrym have guest starred on the spinoff, with John Boyd appearing in the Season 2 premiere. That being said, Zaki is still hopeful one will come to him in the future, and he shared a great idea that I need to see happen:

A traditional two-part crossover with everyone coming together, or even just Zaki’s OA and Peregrym’s Maggie hopping over to the New York Station to help with something, would be so much fun. It’s been a while since the FBI franchise has done a big event like that, and understandably, that didn’t happen with CIA’s first season aside from some mini crossovers. Now that the show’s in its second season, it would definitely be the perfect time.

Considering both shows are filmed and take place in New York, a traditional crossover could certainly happen sooner or later. At the very least, fans will be able to look forward to one on both the Season 9 premiere of FBI and the Season 2 premiere of CIA on Monday, October 5, beginning at 8 p.m. ET on CBS. Those episodes will also stream the next day with a Paramount+ subscription.

Logan Smith was hot on the trail of Katie Fites being a Traitor in the first few episodes of New Blood, but he wasn't the only person highly suspicious of her. CinemaBlend had a chance to speak to both the "murdered" and banished contestants of The Traitors: New Blood, and they told us a lot about how Katie's actions had people on edge.

As the new "newbies only" NBC spinoff airs on the 2026 TV schedule, I had the chance to speak to both Logan and Arisa Thomas about their time in the castle. While it may not be as clear in the edit at this point, Arisa revealed exclusively to us that Katie was moving in a way that had more than just Logan worrying about her.

Why Arisa Also Suspected Katie Was A Traitor

After she stepped into the "Circle of Truth" and confessed she was a Faithful, I had the chance to speak to Arisa and ask if she was at all suspicious that any of her fellow contestants were Traitors. Surpsisingly, she revelaed that she was definitely on to Katie, and it all started with some messy gameplay on behalf of the person she thought was her ally:

It's interesting to hear that more people than just Logan were keeping an eye on Katie, and I have to wonder what that means for her future in The Traitors: New Blood. Is she going to be the first Traitor the Faithful catch? I think it's a distinct possibility.

Ultimately, Arisa wasn't able to act on her suspicions, as she was stuck playing defense after many believed she was a Traitor. The suspicion came from her doing a "lie-detector test" on Viktor Vollbrechthausen, which some believed was likely a Traitor initiation challenge in plain sight.

The cast of The Traitors: New Blood was so prepared for murders or challenges in plain sight that they were locked in on anything that was remotely suspicious. In fairness, I'm still questioning what compelled Arisa to do that, as she insisted to CinemaBlend that she was a super fan of the game. She also maintained she didn't feel like her action was suspicious, but others clearly disagreed.

Why Logan Didn't Speak Up About Katie Sooner

The Traitors: New Blood already showed viewers that Logan was highly suspicious of Katie, and had planned to take her out. Unfortunately, his suspicions were outed a bit too early, which led to Katie, Joe Vanella, and Tomika Adams targeting him for murder. I had to know if Logan was upset he didn't speak out a little sooner, and was surprised to hear he had zero regrets:

Logan added to CinemaBlend that he intended to keep his suspicions secret at the roundtable, but was forced to speak up when Jay Vinnedge invoked his name. Feeling like he couldn't back down in the moment, Logan spoke up, which effectively marked him for death.

As psyched as I am about the upcoming cast for the celebrity season, I have to say I'm enjoying The Traitors: New Blood quite a bit. I think that this cast of newcomers has something to prove, and as a result, they're gaming a lot harder than we've seen from the celebs. It's part of the reason why I wish there was another show to see some of these people on, so fingers crossed NBC feels the same way.

Catch episodes of The Traitors: New Blood on Thursdays, and the next day on streaming if you have a Peacock subscription. This season is off to a rocking start, so I can hardly wait for the next episode to see how Katie and the others do.

Dee Valladares came into Big Brother as a former winner of Survivor, a show some would argue is the superior reality competition series to appear on. Let's face it, Survivor prize money is better, and contestants spend a third of the time on the island that they would in the BB house. And yet, Dee came out of the experience saying she loves the show, and believe it or not, the length is a major reason why.

CinemaBlend had a chance to submit questions for Dee ahead of her trip to the jury house. After asking how she managed to stay in the game for so long despite being a massive target, I had to know what she loved about playing Big Brother. I was surprised to hear that she found the amount of time she was in the house to be one of the best parts, and she explained her reasoning:

First off, it's funny to hear a Survivor winner say they loved playing Big Brother, especially after Cirie Fields struggled so much in Season 25. Cirie was more or less over the experience toward the end of her time in the game. However, based on the way Dee talks about this, it sounds like she'd jump at the chance to come back next season.

Dee added that another element that elevated the experience was the incredibly open nature of the gameplay. The former Houseguest, who was evicted when Drew chose Rick Devens over her to take to the Final Three, explained that she most enjoyed the open feeling of the game and the freedom it allowed:

I can understand why Dee may feel she had so much freedom after she successfully bent the rules of her BB Bribe to guarantee safety for her and the Icons against Yash Patel. Some believed the way Dee manipulated the rules made for unfair gameplay, but the fact that it was allowed showed how much of a master gamer she is.

Ultimately, Dee fell short of winning Big Brother, and I think there were some questions about whether she would've gotten the jury votes she needed to win in any case. I'd love to see her come back to play a more low-key game, but I question whether Dee would be capable of that, given her constant need to make moves in Season 28.

It's interesting to see Dee's thoughts, and I'll be curious to see what Rick Devens has to say when he comes out. He's officially lasted more days in Big Brother than he ever did across his appearances on Survivor. If he ends up winning that big prize money, would he say he prefers BB to life on the island?

We won't have long to wait and find out, as Big Brother Season 28's finale airs on CBS on October 1st amid the 2026 TV schedule. I'm genuinely not sure who is going to win this season, but I'm sure there will be a lot to say after that's finally revealed.

I don’t know about you, but I thought Toy Story 5 was one of the big surprises among 2026 movie releases (so far). Obviously, Pixar always puts out incredible (pun intended) animated films, but it’s not easy to make a movie as good as the sequel was on its fifth rodeo. From Jessie’s emotional arc to the great commentary about tech, there’s just so much to love. But, right now, we need to talk about Blaze, and what CinemaBlend learned about her role from the actress who voices her.

Blaze is a new little girl that is living in the house of Jessie's former owner, Emily. And, isn’t she a sweetie? The endearing kid ended up being one the highlights of Toy Story 5 for me, especially towards the end when she becomes friends with Bonnie. CinemaBlend had the chance to talk to the voice actress behind the character, Mykal-Michelle Harris, and she shared a wild fact about her role. In her words:

By the sound of it, the 14-year-old actor was just honored to join the Toy Story 5 cast as the horse-loving character who loves playing with toys. And, because Harris was just focused on her own lines when recording for the film, she was in for a big surprise when the movie ultimately hit theaters.

Can you imagine the shock when she realized how important Blaze is to Toy Story 5? Harris also said this of the experience:

Throughout the movie, Bonnie is dealing with making friends. As a result, her parents buy her a tablet called Lilipad so that she can digitally connect with her neighbors. However, Bonnie soon finds out that they don’t really use tech to play with each other, and they subsequently tease her. Thankfully, Jessie and her other toys find Blaze and connect the pair, leading to a friendship that's as endearing as it is adorable.

Also, interestingly enough, Blaze marked a first for Pixar, because the character's design led the animation studio to come up with breakthrough technology. Said tech was developed in order to accurately depict Blaze's tight curls.

In the same interview, we spoke to the movie’s other child actor, Scarlett Spears, who took over the role of Bonnie this time around. She shared an interest in seeing Bonnie and Blaze grow up together and eventually pass on their toys in a sixth film like Andy did. And, yes, I’m already grabbing tissues.

Let's hope this new friendship continues and that Bonnie and Blaze remain besties if there is another installment in the franchise. You can check out Bonnie’s latest journey in Toy Story 5, which is not only streamable with a Disney+ subscription, but also available for purchase on digital platforms, physical 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD.

Emmy, Grammy and Oscar-winning singer H.E.R. is the latest of professional musicians to star in their own film, and I love that it’s for DreamWorks. The “Best Part” singer is in one of the latest 2026 movie releases, Forgotten Island, which arrives in theaters this weekend. The family-friendly adventure sees the multi-hyphenate voicing one of the leading roles of Jo, and I love that the filmmakers snuck in a little tribute to her music career.

When CinemaBlend spoke to H.E.R., she confirmed the Easter Egg for us after I thought I saw it early in the film. As she told us:

Forgotten Island follows the friendship of H.E.R.’s Jo and Liza Soberano’s Raissa from elementary school to being seniors in high school. One major part of their relationship is the charm bracelets they continue to add to as they collect memories together. During a montage where the film is showing the audience all the charms from their life thus far, you can see the lime green pick with H.E.R. on it.

So, did H.E.R. have anything to do with that nod to her work? Here’s what she said:

I love it! Plenty of animated movies, including the Spider-Verse films, are known to feature all sorts of personal Easter Eggs, so I love that H.E.R. and her fans get this little homage to the beloved artist. Forgotten Island comes from the filmmakers of the very critically-acclaimed Puss In Boots: The Last Wish Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado and, given the care the two put into their work, I'm not surprised that they'd nod at one of their leads in such a way.

This latest animated movie is inspired by spooky Filipino folklore, and Mercado and Crawford were inspired to make it because they both have roots in the culture. Januel is Filipino American, while Joel’s wife is Filipina. In the new film, Jo and Raissa discover the titular Forgotten Island on the night before Raissa is supposed to leave their home of the Philippines for college in America.

Ultimately, Raissa and Jo meet all sorts of creatures that are synonymous with Filipino culture. The cast also includes Dave Franco as a were-aspin (half man, half aspin) named Raww, while Jenny Slate and Manny Jacinto voice demons on the island. Meanwhile, Jo Koy plays a tree giant named Datu, Ronny Chieng plays a Duwende named King Truffle Wuffle and Lea Salonga plays the terrifying manananggal, which is a vampire who can separate her top and bottom half of her body from each other.

Forgotten Island tells a fantastical story, but it's all rooted in tangible themes like loyalty and friendship. It's definitely worth the watch, and you can check it out in theaters. Also, during your screening keep an eye out for that H.E.R. Easter Egg!

Spoilers ahead for Netflix's Unabomber.

Netflix has had a ton of 2026 releases, and those with a Netflix subscription were treated this weekend to Janus Metz' Unabomber. The drama film tells the origin story of Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, and features a stellar cast including Jacob Tremblay and Shailene Woodley. Both the director and the Big Little Lies star spoke to me about the ending's meaning.

Unabomber tells its title character's story across two timelines. Tremblay plays Kaczynski as a young man in the 1950s, who is manipulated during experiment at Harvard. Meanwhile we're shown Woodley's FBI Agent Joanne Miller during his manhunt and eventual 1996 capture. As you can see in the video above, I asked the recent Emmy winner about its final moments, and the scene where she weeps after finally catching Ted. She told me:

Honestly, this makes a great deal of sense. Just like the audience, Shailene Woodley doesn't know what it's like to conduct a manhunt. Although she can relate to the strange emptiness that can come after accomplishing one's goal. For her, that's where she found the connection to Joanne's breakdown at the end of Unabomber.

After successfully capturing Ted Kaczynski, Joanne is celebrated by her colleagues at the FBI, including a champagne toast. Despite this, she begins to weep when she has a moment alone in her office. Woodley spoke more about what was happening in her head on set, telling me:

I loved hearing Shailene Woodley's perspective, because that final scene of Joanne is one of the most emotionally impactful moments in Unabomber's 100-minute runtime. Although director Janus Metz had his own feelings about what that sequence means for the movie as a whole.

Just like Shailene Woodley, I had to ask Metz about what Joanne's breakdown at the end of Unabomber. He revealed that moment was thought of very specifically by the filmmaker behind the camera, telling me:

While Unabomber is careful not to glorify Ted Kaczynski or justify his crimes (which resulted in three deaths and many more injuries), the 1950s story help to explain how he eventually became so disillusioned by society as we know it. Janus Metz spoke more about what the character of Joanne represents for the movie as a whole, telling me:

The tragedy of The Unabomber's victims is definitely something that's highlighted throughout the Netflix movie. The film opens on one bombing, and was a chilling way to start the story. Although by the end of the film, you do end up feeling for young Ted after the way he was manipulated at Harvard.

According to the filmmaker, Joanne's tears represent the multigenerational pain of Unabomber's story. That includes the victims, Ted, and his family. Metz put it:

Shailene Woodley's performance really sells this moment, as does the way the dual-timeline story builds to a crescendo in Act Three. Because while Ted has a thrilling confrontation with Russell Crowe's Henry Murray, Joanne and her team are finally capturing Kaczynski in the '90s. I found it to be a wildly satisfying ending, and it should be interesting to see if Netflix users agree now that it's out.

Unabomber is streaming now on Netflix as part of the 2026 movie release list. Only time will tell how fans respond, and if it ends up trending in the streaming service's Top 10.

Dee Valladares was finally evicted from the Big Brother house just ahead of the Final Three, which is much further along than I originally assumed she'd go. The Survivor 45 winner had a massive target on her back coming in, but even when her back was against the wall, she never gave up. It's different than what Houseguests usually do when they feel their game is "over," so I had to know if she had any words of encouragement for future Houseguests. Her approach is exactly what the series needs, and hopefully they'll take note.

As the remaining players competed in Part 1 of the Final HOH competition, I had a chance to send questions to Dee ahead of her visit to the jury house. I had to know how she managed to stay in the game when all hope seemed lost, as she had a couple of close calls even after Rick Devens saved her with his Diamond Power of Veto. Her advice, while simple is something I find other Houseguests have rarely put into action over the years. In her words:

Dee certainly put that plan in motion in the Big Brother house, and somehow managed to convince Yash Patel and Taylor Brown that it was better to save her over Angela Murray just weeks ago. Former legends of the game were baffled by the move, which may just speak to how rarely an obvious threat escapes eviction solely through conversations.

She continued, talking about the strategy she frequently employed to pull in people she wouldn't normally work with, and convince them to work with her just long enough to help her plans fall into place. The key, as she explained, is telling them anything they want to hear, even if it may not be entirely true. As she put it:

People who want to win Big Brother understand that lying is a part of the game, to the point where "bounce checks" became a quotable. Dee was pretty good at convincing others she was 100% ready to work in their best interests, even if she immediately stabbed them in the back the following week.

Dee maintained this was her greatest strategy for staying alive, and it's hard to argue with results. Honestly, she nearly outlasted Devens, and might have if only Drew Campbell hadn't spent all season seeing firsthand why you don't make a deal with her. Even so, one can never say never, and Big Brother was a place where Dee saw the light in what makes it one of the best reality shows:

Dee is now headed to the jury house, where she and the others will decide who will win between Devens, Drew, and Taylor Brown. She'll obviously be rooting for her former allies in The Crossovers, and I'll be interested to see in who she'd vote for if it came down to choosing between Devens or Drew.

As for whether we'll ever see Dee play again, that's up to Big Brother. It's worth noting that she's played Survivor twice, and ratings were good for this season. If there's an all-star season that comes up in the future, I'd expect her to get a call.

Until then, we'll just enjoy Big Brother's remaining episodes on CBS, and the finale on October 1st. Tune in to see who wins, and who America voted as their favorite player this season.

The Scrubs revival is coming back on the 2026 TV schedule next week, and I’ve never been so excited to go back to a hospital in my life. After the beloved comedy made its triumphant return last year, J.D., Elliot, Turk and all their hilarious co-workers will be back at Sacred Heart Hospital throughout the fall season. When CinemaBlend spoke to the original trio, I had to ask about one yet-to-be-seen plot point that’s been on my mind.

Will we ever meet J.D. and Elliot’s kid? Ollie Dorian has barely been mentioned except in passing when J.D. said he’d be getting to see his son “next weekend” in Episode 4, and that he’d recently built him a bunk bed. I know I’d love to see what the child of J.D. and Elliot is like. Here’s what Braff told me:

Yeah, this totally makes sense. All the fun of Scrubs happens when the characters are in scrubs after all, and Ollie is very much part of their home life. The original Scrubs series ended up taking us outside the hospital as the show went along, but it totally makes sense that creator Bill Lawrence wanted to establish the main setting and new characters first. As Braff added:

Plus, J.D. has an adult kid with Elizabeth Banks’ Dr. Kim Briggs we haven’t heard much about. There could also be an opportunity to bring back Banks for an episode with their kid, Sam.

In the last season, Scrubs had a lot of new characters to introduce to us, and I thought they did a fantastic job of doing so. I found myself getting as excited about what’s going on for the interns as the original characters. For Season 2, Ava Bunn’s Sam Tosh has been promoted to the regular cast alongside the trio. John McGinley’s Dr. Cox, Judy Reyes’ Carla Espinosa, Vanessa Bayer’s Sibby and Michael James Scott’s Nurse Dubois are among the returning recurring cast members.

Then there’s a new chief resident in town with the addition of SNL’s John Higgins along with Keyla Monterros Mejia playing a surgical nurse named Mimi and Tamera Mowry-Housley guest-starring as pediatric doctor Dr. Steffie. Rachel Bilson will also be back as J.D’s new love interest, Charlie.

Scrubs Season 2 premieres on ABC on Wednesday, September 30, with new episodes dropping on Wednesdays and coming to those with a Hulu subscription on the following day.

WARNING: There are major spoilers ahead for Primetime, especially the movie's ending.

Primetime, from director Lance Oppenheim, the latest movie from A24 to hit the 2026 movie schedule, asks a lot of questions and leaves it up to the audience to decide the answers. One question that the ending of the movie asks is who the villain of the story is, which is based on the real events of the short-lived Dateline NBC spinoff To Catch a Predator.

The movie provides the stark answer to where the motivations lead, and that is with the suicide of one of To Catch a Predator's targets, a Dallas-area district attorney named Bill Conradt, who turns a gun on himself at the end of the movie, just as he did in real life with the Predator crew and the cops outside his house. That death left the show and its creators reeling, and it spelled the end of Predator on NBC.

Primetime doesn't hit audiences over the head with an answer to the question of who the villain of the film is, deftly leaving it open to interpretation. Here's what co-star Merritt Wever told us about it.

Is There One Villain? Is Everyone A Villain?

Audiences will likely have different opinions on who the villains are in the movie, aside from the predators, which no one will dispute. Is TV the villain? Is the ratings system for TV shows the villain? Is host Chris Hansen (Robert Pattinson)? Is the show's producer?

Wever, who plays Predator’s producer Andie Bender in the movie, has thoughts on the matter. When we asked her who she thinks the villain is in Primetime, she gave us her thoughts:

It sounds like she believes Hansen and the crew of Predator take some of the blame. It’s not just one person in particular, however. In the movie, none of the people involved in the show come across as heroes, for sure. Certainly, her character does not in her quest for a ratings hit (along with Hansen). The organization, Perverted-Justice, who run the sting operation, especially its leader, Xavier Von Erck (Matthew Maher), looks bad, as does host Chris Hansen himself on a number of levels. However, Wever is forgiving of some of the characters’ motivations, telling us:

While the movie certainly doesn’t go easy on Hansen or anyone else involved, every character’s motivation in the story is genuine. Hansen wants to be seen as a great journalist and (at least at first) is driven by getting the story of child predators out into the world. Von Erck wants to lock them all up. Wever’s Bender wants to make a great show. Somewhere along the line, the movie argues, the original ideals of all of them get lost.

Primetime is sure to spark a lot of conversations about its role in that mid-2000s era of reality television and how successful its tactics were. One thing is for sure: it’s very good at asking the right questions.

Warning! The following contains spoilers from the Stuart Fails To Save The Universe Season 1 finale, "Spoiler: Filmed Before A Live Studio Audience." Stream the episode with an HBO Max subscription and read at your own risk!

Stuart Fails To Save The Universe got incredibly meta in its Season 1 finale, turning the series into what felt like an episode of The Big Bang Theory. In the end, viewers might've been scratching their heads about what was happening, and CinemaBlend managed to get a few answers from its EP.

The episode ended with creator Chuck Lorre introducing the cast of Stuart Fails To Save The Universe, which was a multi-cam sitcom filmed in front of a live studio audience. As Kevin Sussman, Brian Poeshn, Lauren Lapkus, and John Ross Bowie took a bow, Stuart, Denise, Bert, and Kripke stood offstage in shock at seeing versions of themselves on a television show. They'd seemingly broken into our world at the end of the 2026 TV schedule, but is that what really happened? I had to get answers.

Bill Prady Gave A Breakdown Of What Happened At The End Of The Season

Remembering the bit with The Matrix earlier in Season 1, I had my suspicions that Stuart and friends didn't actually come to our world. Sure, Stuart Fails To Save The Universe is a fictional show in this world, but we also saw advertisements for Young Leonard and Two And A Half Women, both of which do not exist. I asked co-creator Bill Prady if this was a similar but not quite the same version of our world that the characters ended up in, and he confirmed as much:

Maybe it's because I still have the memory of the DC Comics episode in my mind, but this feels as though they're on Earth-2. I wonder if it'll be any easier for them to find Howard, Leonard, or Sheldon in this universe, or whatever it is they're in search for that will fix the multiverse.

What's Next For Stuart Bloom And Friends?

Bill Prady recently shared that the writers' room for Season 2 is open, so he and the other writers and creatives are working out what's next as we speak. I'm wondering if the new season will pick up in this universe, or jump ahead to where they've already moved on and are dealing with something else?

One thing that's clear is that there is a much larger story at play that we only know a little bit about. Who is this entity that's trying to stop Stuart from saving the universe, and what actually needs to happen for the universe to be saved?

Between all the jokes and unexpectedly violent moments, it does feel like there's a bigger drama lurking beneath the surface. I'd love to see the series lean into that more as it goes forward, because I think there's a great sci-fi series lurking beneath all the humor.

Stuart Fails To Save The Universe will return to HBO Max for Season 2, and I can hardly wait. Here's hoping others are just as excited, because I would hate for this show to fly under the radar!

Actor Jacob Tremblay has grown up before our eyes, starting with his acclaimed performance in Room (streaming with a HBO Max subscription), as well as notable roles in Doctor Sleep, Good Boys and voicing the title role of Disney's Luca. He's now 19 years old, and is doing his most adult role yet as a young Ted Kaczynski in Janus Metz' Unabomber movie, arriving this weekend for those with a Netflix subscription. Prior to its release, the filmmaker spoke to CinemaBlend about why now is the right time to tell the infamous Unabomber's origin story in film.

Unabomber's story is told through two timelines. While we follow the manhunt for him in the '80s and '90s (led by Emmy winner Shailene Woodley's Joanna Miller), the audience also follows Ted as a young man in Harvard in the 1950s. As you can see in the vide above, I asked Metz about why now was the right time to unpack Kaczynski's history, and he told me:

When watching Unabomber, I was surprised to hear how many of the issues Ted Kaczynski was taking umbrage with still applied today. Specifically how technology leads to isolation, which is something that people have been saying for years in reaction to smart phones and social media. He also claimed that technology would eventually be used to surveil citizens, another hot topic at the moment.

Obviously Metz clarified that he's not defending Kaczynski's crimes, which included 16 bombings that killed three people and injured many more. But he sees the connection that Unabomber has to contemporary issues. Later in our conversation, the filmmaker spoke more about ways he thinks audiences might relate to the film, telling me:

Unabomber shows the experiments Ted Kaczynski participated in Harvard. Jacob Tremblay gives a strong performance, and the plot shows how the character (and real-life killer) become first manipulated and then disillusioned by the experience. At the same time we're shown glimpses of Ted as a recluse before his capture, and the juxtaposition is a powerful bit of filmmaking.

Janus Metz wrapped up his feelings by sharing another message that seems to be at the heart of Unabomber for him. In the filmmaker's words:

Tragedy is a running theme throughout Unabomber, starting from its chilling opening scene. It should be fascinating to see how Netflix users respond to it once it hits the streaming service this weekend. Only time will tell the sentiment online, and if it'll land in the Top 10 section.

Unabomber is streaming September 25th as part of the 2026 movie release list. It features an all-star cast led by Tremblay, including Shailene Woodley, Russell Crowe, and Annabelle Wallis.

How crazy is it that the Toy Story franchise is already well into its second generation of characters? While the first batch of three movies focused on Andy of course, the most recent two films have been all about Bonnie. The latest flick heads to streaming this week, and CinemaBlend spoke to the voice actress for the eight-year-old Bonnie. Turns out, she has ideas for what's next, and I'm already emotional thinking about it.

Scarlett Spears is the nine-year-old actress behind the voice of Bonnie (following Emily Ricks Hahn doing the voice in Toy Story 3 and Madeleine McGraw taking on the role in Toy Story 4). Given the franchise is still going strong, making more than 1.1 billion at the global box office before hitting streaming for those with a Disney+ subscription I had to ask the actress what she wanted to see next.

So, yes, she'd love to see Toy Story 6. Spears told me what makes Bonnie such a great successor to Andy, and brought up what she’d like to see from the character if we do get another sequel. I love the Bonnie actress wants the cycle to continue and to close the chapter much like Andy's story did.

We’ve been watching Bonnie slowly grow up in the past 26 years, starting with Toy Story 3 when we met her when she was four. Then in Toy Story 4 she was five, and in Toy Story 5 she’s eight. I guess it depends how long Pixar decides to wait before making a sequel, but it’s not out of the question that at some point we’ll watch the character grow all the way up and continue the cycle toys go through with their kids.

Spears also said this about her own love of voicing Bonnie:

Now, a sixth Toy Story isn't part of the upcoming Disney movie slate right now. Yet, when I talked to Toy Story writer/director Andrew Stanton about if the franchise will ever end he shared his hope for it to continue, telling me, “It's all about the journey of the children and then moving on to another child.” Though I will say toys like Jessie and Woody are feeling pretty vintage at this point.

Toy Story 5 allowed audiences to finally see Jessie front and center along with exploring what happens in households where technology and toys co-exist. The new sequel was warmly received and is currently the No. 3 highest-grossing film among 2026 movie releases so far.

You can check out Bonnie’s latest journey in Toy Story 5, not only now on Disney+, but also available for purchase on digital platforms, physical 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD.

It’s been an awesome year for animation, but I have a feeling the 2026 movie schedule might be saving the best for last. This December, Brad Bird’s first movie since Incredibles 2 is coming to those with a Netflix subscription and the first trailer is here. I’m loving this sneak peek, and what it reminded me about CinemaBlend’s interview with Bird.

Ray Gunn’s First Trailer Has My Hyped For The Netflix Noir

Ray Gunn is a longtime passion project for Bird, who first thought of making his own spin on film noir three decades ago before officially inking a deal with Skydance Animation in 2022. It follows the titular Ray Gunn (voiced by Sam Rockwell), the last human private detective in a futuristic world, and his sidekick Eyera (Tom Waits) as they get involved in a dangerous mystery in the city of Metropia. All we’ve had so far is first look images, but now we have the this awesome trailer!

I have to say this looks super cool, fun and action packed. Another thing that really struck me about the trailer is how important blonde bombshell Scarlett Johansson’s Venus Nova seems to be to the story. Not only is the pop star in the center of the mystery Gunn is trying to unravel, and the detective seems to form a sultry romance with her at the same time, too. I’m totally here for it, and from the filmmaker of Incredibles, Ratatouille and The Iron Giant? This is gonna be good.

What Brad Bird Told Me About Ray Gunn’s Take On Jetpacks

I had the chance to speak to Gunn when he debuted the first footage at San Diego Comic-Con in July. During our interview, he gave us a little something about world-building in his futuristic setting. In Bird’s words:

How about that? I never would have thought of jetpacks having this sort of place in a movie, but I think it says so much about the filmmaker’s approach to Ray Gunn. He’s being really imaginative about the smart and clever ways audiences can experience a futuristic setting like this one.

During our interview, Bird also said he wanted to approach the future from the lens of how they did in 1939 through things like the World’s Fair. He also described his world as a “utopia” that is inhabited by people who “haven’t really progressed” in the same way the city has. I'm so curious to see Mr. Ray Gunn lurk in this world as he tries to solve this exciting murder case.

You can check out Ray Gunn yourself in select theaters on December 4 and Netflix on December 18.

Fans around the world have had new reason to celebrate the whimsical splendor of Gravity Falls thanks to the release of the magnificent new book The Art of Gravity Falls, a gloriously hefty behind-the-scenes journey from earliest concepts through the series finale. A feast for the eyeballs, the book puts the spotlight on the myriad talents responsible for bringing one of the best animated series ever to life. That definitely includes its brilliant authors, creator Alex Hirsch and producer Rob Renzetti.

I’m not just calling them brilliant because they talked to CinemaBlend at length about their first nonfiction book about Gravity Falls, though it absolutely helped. [Read the full interview below.] But also because this book finally turned my head around from “I need Season 3 immediately” fanaticism to truly understanding just how lucky we all are that the show was able to reach the heights it did in the first place, and how much work was required for it to stick its exquisite landing in a way that few TV shows did before or since.

Now, I'd still take a Gravity Falls movie without hesitation — and I love Hirsch's lofty idea for how to make it happen — but after reading the book and asking the duo for their thoughts about returning to that world, I think I am finally at peace. Or something. Here's how Hirsch explained it:

It's easy to hear that and think, "Well what about a one-off special or series of shorts?" But that falls back to the issue of how to open the Journal back up convincingly and in a way that seems necessary. Which Hirsch spoke to as he continued, saying:

To follow up on the madness of "Weirdmageddon," the story would need to be massively important for these characters, and in a truly authentic way. So it's perfectly understandable that no one involved wants to go through the wringer all over again for another 20-episode season of TV. But I choose to remain hopeful that these characters will return for a new adventure in some shape or form. Yes, even in the face of Rob Renzetti's wise older uncle logic, as seen below.

You can read even more of their thoughts about the show's potential future and more below in our full-length interview. (Edited for clarity and length.) But if you haven't already, BUY THE ART OF GRAVITY FALLS RIGHT NOW!

CinemaBlend's Full Interview With Gravity Fall's Alex Hirsch And Rob Renzetti

• CINEMABLEND: The book is... My God, it's so good.

ALEX HIRSCH: Well, thank you for enjoying it. We didn't know what the target audience was. We made it for nerds like ourselves, so it sounds like mission accomplished.

• CINEMABLEND: To start off with, any hopes of seeing Rumble McSkirmish in the Street Fighter movie?

ALEX HIRSCH: Oh, Rumble McSkirmish. I have a theory that Rumble McSkirmish and Giffany have found love and are now parents to a bunch of little space invader babies. I hope for great things for them.

• CINEMABLEND: I have so many questions about just the process of going back to the beginning and putting all that together. Can you talk about looking at some of the earliest like concept drawings, and if it felt like looking at baby pictures in a way?

ALEX HIRSCH: Yeah, yeah. I mean, we made the decision early on to include the embarrassing, ugly, earliest drawings I've ever done of these characters. I didn't want to see them again. I know I'm not going to get any praise for these things. But the hope was that we would maybe have the opportunity to show our fans that TV shows and movies -as big and complex and intimidating and impressive as they are - they ultimately start with rough, stupid ideas. Rough drafts. Messy, false starts. We wanted to demystify the process a little bit.

I've had so many fans come up to me and say, “How do I make my own show? Where do I get started? What's the process?” And with this book, it seemed like there was an opportunity to sort of look behind the curtain and say, “Look, if our goofy knucklehead asses could do it, you can certainly do it too.”

ROB RENZETTI: Part of the reason that I wanted to be involved with this book was, when I was a weird little kid growing up, I had no chance to see Disney animation on television. I'm old enough that Disney actually didn't show their cartoons on television. But I had a cousin who was a huge Disney fan. He's older than me. He was an artist. He just was a fan of Disney, so he had all these art books.

So when I would go over to his house, I would go into his room and look at his like Art of Walt Disney and the other books he had; he had like six or seven different books. They showed me Disney cartoons, and the only way I could see him was like still frames from a Mickey Mouse short presented like a comic strip. But then on the next page, it showed “Here's the original model sheet of the character you just saw from the finished cartoon, and here's a version of the prop, and here's the background about the characters in front of it. See the pegs down at the bottom.”

Basically I discovered how these cartoons were made and how they were created, that there was a bunch of artists that got together to do this to collaborate on, and those books are one of the reasons that I grew up to be in animation, to work in the industry that I saw depicted in those pages. So when we were doing our own Art of... book, I think it was both important to me and Alex that, you know, you could do a glossy book that just showed you a bunch of the finished backgrounds, or you could do a book that showed you the nuts and bolts, and the ugly, weird, crazy, abandoned part of the processes.

I think we wanted to basically show this is a show that was created by imperfect humans with imperfect ideas, and it was only through their collaboration together that the show turned out the way that it did, and that the show is as good as it is. And that it's something that you yourself are capable of, and that you yourself, if you get a bunch of your friends together, you too can create a show and have people love it.

ALEX HIRSCH: Yeah, I think it's so easy now to make things that look slick that people are scared of being cringe, and being stupid is the first step to being smart. So we we wanted to show our dumbest ideas and our dumbest drawings to demystify the process, so that people realize they could do it.

ROB RENZETTI: You don't have to be dumb in public. You can do all your dumb sketches to yourself and not put them on social media. You can just keep them in your desk until you're ready to to have something that you want to share with people.

ALEX HIRSCH: Right, but we're opening up our desk so you can see our dumbness.

ROB RENZETTI: Yeah, we're opening Alex's desk mostly, and showing all his dumb things. I wasn't around when the first sketches of Dipper and Mabel were were made. I came in when Joe Pitt was making the characters look like they look now. But still, I have my own crappy doodles from early crappy ideas that I have, and I keep them to myself. But we wanted to show these so that people could say like, "Those doodles you hate so much, they're the key ingredient to getting anything good off the ground."

• CINEMABLEND: Oh man, that's so inspirational to hear. I'm a huge 2 Stupid Dogs fan, too.

ROB RENZETTI: Oh well, I'm glad to hear it. That was the start of my Hollywood career was working on 2 Stupid Dogs, and so I'm very grateful to Donovan Cook, the creator of that show, for giving me and all the young artists that came along with me a chance. Because from that show came Dexter's Lab and Powerpuff Girls, and my show, My Life as a Teenage Robot. All of us got our chance starting on 2 Stupid Dogs.

• CINEMABLEND: And they'd be two smart dogs now because that's the first step. It's all cyclical.

ALEX HIRSCH: Yeah, the dogs could do astrophysics now. You just need to give them some time.

ROB RENZETTI: That's right.

• CINEMABLEND: Neil deGrasse Tyson would be like, "That's not correct, dogs.'

ROB RENZETTI: Hey, but it's pretty good for dogs regardless.

• CINEMABLEND: I feel like all the background art should be screensavers on smart TVs. They're just so, so gorgeous. There's talk in the book that it would be gorgeous enough for a movie. I have to address this at some point, but are there any thoughts of making some sort of a feature-length return for Gravity Falls?

ALEX HIRSCH: If you can convince Walt Disney Corporation to give me $70 million and a theatrical release, you'll get your Gravity Falls movie, brother. So start making those phone calls. I'll say, we love these characters, we love this world, and whenever there's an opportunity to do something in this world that makes sense for us creatively and doesn't screw the whole thing up, we take it. That's why we did this book. That's why I did Book of Bill. But movies are expensive, so yeah, see what you could do next time you're at Disneyland shaking hands with Mickey Mouse. [Laughs.] Kidnap him, shake him down.

ROB RENZETTI: No, you put what he thinks is a $20 bill into his suit coat pocket, and it actually turns out to be Stan Bucks. and on the back you write a message about the Gravity Falls movie.

• CINEMABLEND: And I still have a string to get it back.

ROB RENZETTI: [Laughs.] Of course.

ALEX HIRSCH: You know what? We haven't tried that method. Going to a Hollywood producer, giving them $90 million attached to a string, and then just sneakily yoinking it as soon as the movie's made.

ROB RENZETTI: Yes, as soon as the final film is done.

ALEX HIRSCH: I think you're describing how crypto works, but that's a whole other ball game. [Laughs.]

• CINEMABLEND: I guess Stan getting into crypto would be a way into that.

ALEX HIRSCH: He can't operate a computer. His scams are a lot more nostalgic than today's scams.

• CINEMABLEND: He would just attach an e to the end of a dog and just be like, "That's Doge."

ALEX HIRSCH: [Laughs.] Yeah, exactly.

• CINEMABLEND: Well, can we talk about codes?

ALEX HIRSCH: Sure. Like, um, what's a code? Never heard of it.

• CINEMABLEND: I...don't even have an amusing response. Were there any worries, or non-worries, about including them in here, as far as what fans may read into with them?

ALEX HIRSCH: Yeah, you know, we made the controversial opinion to not include any codes, secrets, or mysteries whatsoever in this book. Unfortunately, we just didn't think it would be appropriate. So yeah, nothing to see here, folks! Don't get out your magnifying glasses. Don't look closely. It's just a regular Art Of... book.

• CINEMABLEND: Uh huh. Mm-hmm. Okayyy.

ALEX HIRSCH: That's my answer. I'm sticking to it.

• CINEMABLEND: Not in this book, then, but maybe in past ones. What is that process like? Was there less pressure in coming up with those for the books, without leading up to a big story?

ROB RENZETTI: The process for me is that I leave it to Alex. But when we're working on these books, we kind of do everything else first. And if there if there are any codes hidden in any book that we might produce, it's kind of the last thing that gets added in. One, it gives Alex more time to procrastinate and figure out exactly what he wants to do. And two, it only makes sense to layer it on top because it is kind of like the icing on the cake. It's not an essential ingredient. It's another layer of things that usually doesn't interact in any substantial way with the story we're telling in the books.

ALEX HIRSCH: Yes, it's 100% icing, and sometimes it feels a little bad because me and all of my fellow chefs will work very hard to make this cake. We'll sweat over it for a year, and then at the last second, I'll add three little dollops of frosting, and people say, "Wow, it's The Frosting Show! We love the frosting. You must have spent hours on that frosting!" And it's like, the frosting is only tasty because it's sitting on top of a delicious cake that has character and lore and story.

But that being said, I'm a motherfucker who loves frosting. [Laughs.] I have so much fun creating games and puzzles and ARGs and secrets and mysteries. It's one of my favorite things. For me, it's a little bit of a cat and mouse game with the fans. Since 2012, when the show came out, I've been hiding little secret things and waiting to see what happens. And every challenge I've ever created, the fans have risen to the challenge and, as a hive mind collectively, been smarter than any single human could be, and they seem to be able to crack anything.

So I'm always looking for ways to summon - like sleeper agents - all of those little conspiracy theorists and see what they can do. It's very, very fun, but it is the thing we put the least amount of time and effort into, even though it creates the most amount of YouTube theory videos. Which get a lot of clicks, so you know, I'm happy to be part of that world. But it's not as deep as it might seem.

• CINEMABLEND: When putting the book together and choosing the ephemera that shows up on the pages - the home photos and getting all of the artists involved - how did that process go? I realize there's probably not an easy answer, but how much access was there, and was it more of a cutting down process than scrambling to fill it?

ROB RENZETTI: Oh, it's always a cutting down. I mean, I'm sure Alex has about 20 times more stuff that could have been put into the book in his closet than ended up in it. I will say, and I'll I'll speak first here about one aspect of the book that was unusual and unique for me, which is that I was kind of filling your kind of role, Nick, in that we we kind of became journalists.

Because this is first nonfiction book I've worked on — I think Alex as well — we basically wanted to go back and talk to all the artists that we helped make the show with, some people that I haven't seen in years, and basically interview them and give them questions. Like, I didn't know how Sean Jimenez exactly was connected to Alex, and how he came to work on Gravity Falls. How did that all work? So I talked with Sean and asked him about that. I asked him why did he think that Gravity Falls is still enduring today. So like I basically became a little bit of a journalist for a while and interviewed people, including interviewing Alex Hirsch about his beginnings and how he started off.

A little behind-the-scenes here: the early chapters where there's this third authorial voice talking about how the show came to be and how Alex came up with the show, is basically me interviewing Alex, Alex giving me answers, me writing a version of that, Alex changing the version, and writing that. But all from this weird third-person perspective of a person who doesn't exist, and is just a conglomeration of the two of us writing the book. So even though there's lots of direct quotes in the book from artists and a lot from Alex and some from me, a lot of the writing where there is this third authorial voice is just kind of a weird amalgamation of the two of us writing back and forth and passing drafts back and forth.

So that whole process was very strange, and it took us a while to figure it out. I think it holds together pretty well at the end of the day, but it was definitely a different set of challenges that we had as writers to like write this kind of nonfiction book of a show that we were both there as as first-person participants, but write part of it at least in third person.

ALEX HIRSCH: Yeah, me and Rob had to sort of become historians of each other. I had to be the expert on Rob, and Rob had to be the expert on Alex, and then we did our best to sort of stick it together. In terms of getting all the material, I'm sort of a pack rat. I'm a really sort of nostalgic guy. My house is filled like the Mystery Shack is filled with strange curios and things that I've held onto. Right where I'm sitting right now, I can see a taxidermy duck that was signed by Weird Al, and a jar full of teeth, and a 3D-printed head of President Taft. So I just I never let go of anything.

ALEX HIRSCH: I just saved everything when the show was happening, I still have my sketches from third grade, and I've just kept everything in a crapload of boxes that just had been in my garage for many, many years. So all I had to do was go downstairs, chase the rats away, blow off the cobwebs, and start digging in. Rob is right, though. There was so much material.

I mean, between early sketches, alternate drafts of the show, and then reaching out to Disney and going through their archives, animatics, storyboards — you could have made 30 books easily out of the material we had. We did our best to try to get a representative sample, both of early versions of things that fans love that they're now seeing from a kind of different point of view, as well as cut ideas that never made it, as well as sort of beautiful finished art, but now on a big beautiful spread so you could see it, hoping to give a good sampling of the experience.

I'm glad to hear that you liked it. When you're working on a thing like this, you never really know what you got until people get it. So we've been getting good feedback and feeling good about it.

ROB RENZETTI: We wanted to make a coffee table book that you'd actually pick up off the coffee table and look through.

ALEX HIRSCH: That was the goal. It's also the size of a coffee table, so not easy to make.

• CINEMABLEND: And now I want a third author picture that's a The Thing-ish amalgamation of both your faces.

ROB RENZETTI: There was one. There was a point - I never showed this to Alex - but I started working on an image of like the scene from Ghost where Patrick Swayze is helping Demi Moore. They're making that pot together, and I put Alex's and my heads on those two characters, but I never finished it. Never sent it.

ALEX HIRSCH: [Laughs.] That is how me and Rob make everything. He's at a kiln, and I'm secretly behind him, tenderly cupping his arms romantically.

• CINEMABLEND: And then sometimes Whoopi Goldberg just appears.

ALEX HIRSCH: Oh yeah, she's a vital part of every process. You've got editors, you've got publishers, you gotta get the Whoopi, absolutely.

ROB RENZETTI: Whoopi Goldberg is, in any creative endeavor, the vital part.

• CINEMABLEND: To go for another hard-hitting one here: can you talk about finally giving fans a definitive answer to Pool Jail Kid's fate.

ALEX HIRSCH: You know, honestly, I think the answer to that question might be in the book itself. [Pulls out copy of the book.] Let me flip through this.

ROB RENZETTI: We know that now generations of his family exist in pool jail. I think that's the point, isn't it?

ALEX HIRSCH: I mean, this is what it says in the book: "I've probably had more people at conventions ask me what happened to Pool Jail Kid than any other question. Let me, for once, clear the air. No, Pool Jail Kid did not escape pool jail. Yes, he is a grown man now with a pool jail wife, and pool jail kids of his own." So that's my answer. I'm sticking to it.

ROB RENZETTI: But that is not a complete [explanation], because does that mean he gets visits from his wife in pool jail, and that he has kids that exist outside of pool jail and come visit him in pool jail? Or are they all in pool jail together?

ALEX HIRSCH: I stand by my statement, Rob. I think it's clear. [Laughs.]

ROB RENZETTI: See, see? There are more questions, though. There are questions yet to answer.

• CINEMABLEND: Is it a conjugal pool?

ROB RENZETTI: That's what I'm saying! Is it a conjugal pool visit, or is it like, is she in the next cell over? Or do they share a cell?

ALEX HIRSCH: I'm leaving that to the imagination of our incredible fans.

ROB RENZETTI: I think you're leaving it to the next Gravity Falls books, or series of books that we're going to write about Pool Jail.

ALEX HIRSCH: 50 SPF Shades of Gray is our Pool Jail book.

• CINEMABLEND: Another thing that I loved reading about, as far as silly insights go, were the differences in humor communication between American animators and Korean animators. The Beaver example was excellent. Were there any others that you can think of that weren't mentioned?

ALEX HIRSCH: We were so lucky to work with extraordinary overseas teams who do so much work and crafted those drawings, and we're so grateful to have worked with them. It is a strange and now kind of arcane process the way that we did this. It was traditional hand-drawn animation, even though it was colored digitally. We had stacks of drawings that were sent shipped literally on a boat to Korea, and digital files that were sent back and forth, and there were plenty of times where things would be lost in translation.

But I don't think that's because we spoke English and they spoke Korean. I think that's because I speak Alex, and Alex is kind of a mess. So I would say that usually, if there was a misunderstanding from any of our overseas teams, it's because I was asking them to draw something called a Multi-Bear, and who on earth knows what that looks like until you've seen it?

So I have nothing but praise for our teams. There were occasional miscommunications, and they were usually my fault. I'll say that.

ROB RENZETTI: I mean, I will say that yes, there are miscommunications. But having worked on many, many, many shows, I will just tell you that, like, it seems as a creator of something -when you're writing something or you're drawing something or whatever - it all seems so obvious to you what the answers to questions are. But when you bring one other person into the equation with their different mind, there are questions or interpretations that they're gonna have that you could never predict, and that you, in your own crazy mind, could never think that would that something would be interpreted that way.

I mean, I can give you an example. One of the famous examples from Dexter's Laboratory, which is there is an episode where they go to see a Chuck E. Cheese-type show, and at one point at the end of the show, the audience is supposed to stand up and clap and love it. I was the one responsible for timing that show, and in the exposure sheets, the timing instructions, I wrote 'The audience rises up,' or something like that. We got the take back from overseas, where instead of the audience just standing up, the audience flew up.

ALEX HIRSCH: It magically flies away.

ROB RENZETTI: Magically flew away off screen. We saw them in Take 1, and we all fell on the floor laughing and had to understand., 'What are we talking about?' I had to go back and look at the ex sheets and see what I'd written, and I'm like, "Oh my god, this WAS lost in translation." But we loved it so much that we left it in the show.

ALEX HIRSCH: Didn't you add like The Six Million Dollar Man sound effect? [Makes sound effect.]

ROB RENZETTI: Yeah, we added The Six Million Dollar Man sound effect to it, I believe. It was a complete mistake, and we're just like, 'This is comedy gold. Who knows if it'll make anybody else laugh? But it made us laugh, and we're keeping it in.'

ALEX HIRSCH: I was way too pedantic to keep any of the mistakes, and this is what makes Dexter's Lab a superior show. It's just like a spirit of playful anarchy, which I deeply respect.

• CINEMABLEND: In the years since, with fans wanting returns from the show, and you having pretty much given it the definitive ending that it needed with "Weirdmageddon," what are the pushes and pulls of you wanting to return to it? How much do these books feed into that and sate it?

ALEX HIRSCH: I think of myself like Grunkle Stan. I love to entertain an audience, and like Grunkle Stan, I'm very grateful for the fact that any lost souls have wandered their way up to my shack of amusements. So it's like, you know, we try to give back. It's amazing that fans continue to dress up and theorize and create, and that is a gift. And you know, I take it seriously. I don't take it for granted.

So things like these books are my way of sort of trying to continue to reward just all of that love and creativity that we feel so blessed by. That being said, books are relatively quick and cheap. Animation and movies are very, very long and expensive, and very difficult creatively. Stuff like that, you only make if you have a really clear, specific vision about how it's going to support the world. This is why I have never had any intention of making a Season 3 or something, because that ending was good. But when we have opportunities to do something that is creatively fulfilling and also seems like it is something fans will enjoy, we take those opportunities.

But I'm careful not to overpromise, because I'm sure there's a lot of fans who, if they had a magic wand, would make 20 more seasons of Gravity Falls and 10 Gravity Falls movies and every character would grow up and then have babies and then it would be like, "Here's Dipper's great-great-great-grandson, and he's solving mysteries in space." That's just, again, how I think about these things.

ROB RENZETTI: Another great idea. Very solid.

ALEX HIRSCH: All right, you know what? You've convinced me. We're getting J J Abrams to do Space Dipper. You heard it first. It's coming.

ROB RENZETTI: Here's what I'll say. Here's where I'll be the older disciplinarian uncle. The thing is, some people don't know what's best for them. Like, the show that you love, you think you want more of it, but you don't. What you want is another show to come along that gives you those same kinds of excited feelings - maybe in the same genre, maybe completely different - but gives you the same kind of 'I'm enthralled by the show, I'm loving the hell out of it, I want it to go on forever.'

But at the same time, if they give me a satisfying ending, I've got to have the maturity to say like, 'Wow, that was fantastic. What do I move on to next?' And it's still there. You can still start it again and watch it all again from beginning to end, and there'll be things that you remember, things that you forget. I come back to my favorite movies, my favorite books. Luckily, my memory is very faulty, and I'll forget even my most favorite stories. I'll forget huge details to it.

I just read Apt Pupil by Stephen King, which is probably my favorite Stephen King story; if not, it's probably in my top three. And I had forgotten most of that; I just listened to an audiobook version of it, and I loved it all over again. Does that mean I want to hear Apt Pupil 2, where Todd Bowden comes back from the dead to kill us all again? No, I don't want that.

ALEX HIRSCH: Somewhere, an Apple TV executive just got an erection. As soon as you add a sequel to something, it will get greenlit.

ROB RENZETTI: But I mean, again, like I'll say, no more sequels. Let's come to the original thing.

ALEX HIRSCH: Yeah, I think Rob is right. If you want a Season 3 of Gravity Falls, all you got to do is deeply inhale some industrial varnish, and you'll forget the show, and you'll be able to enjoy it all for the first time all over again.

I'm pretty sure I'll be nerding out until the end of time after having that conversation with two of the coolest and smartest gents in animation. And about one of the greatest books that's ever existed. After all, I don't see Apt Pupil or any other Stephen King novels including pull-outs highlighting every single colorful sweater that Mabel Pines wore throughout Gravity Falls' run. I mean, it would be weird if that showed up in any of King's books, but still.

So for now, the sweater rundown and tons of other exclusive details and visual flair can only be found in The Art of Gravity Falls. Read it while rewatching episodes via Disney+ subscription.

There’s a new DreamWorks movie on the 2026 movie schedule, and in this one families will have a chance to dive into Filipino mythology. Forgotten Island comes from the writer/directors behind animated fan-favorite Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, and when CinemaBlend talked to the creatives and the cast behind the new movie, they got honest. One story the movie is based on is famously quite “scary.” But, I love how they turned generational stories into a fantastical family film.

How Filipino Mythology Ended Up In A DreamWorks Movie

Forgotten Island comes from frequent collaborators Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado, who connected over their shared connection to Filipino culture. (Crawford’s wife is Filipina and Mercado is Filipino American). During our conversation, they explained how one character, a demon baby named Bungi, was adapted from the country's folklore to their animated family film. As Mercado told me:

That’s right, Manny Jacinto of The Good Place, Freakier Friday and The Acolyte voices the role of a giant three-eyed demon baby in Forgotten Island. They added about the process of bringing the "demon baby" character into the fold:

Forgotten Island follows two best friends, Jo and Raissa, who’ve grown up together in the Philippines hearing stories about an island filled with amazing creatures. On the night before one of them is about to go off to college in America, they discover the forgotten island and all the creatures they grew up with.

From shape-shifters called Aswangs to giant tree-dwellers, a vampire who can separate its upper and lower half called a Manananggal to dwarfs called Duwendes, there was a lot of mythology for the filmmakers to play around with. It all makes for an imaginative fantasy that's a highlight of the year for the animation medium.

Forgotten Island Star Talks Her Own History With Filipino Folklore

When CinemaBlend also spoke to Filipina actress and the voice behind Raissa, Liza Soberano, she could definitely relate to the characters in Forgotten Island. In her words:

They weren’t necessarily these creatures you’d want to meet. As she continued:

As DreamWorks toes the line between sequels (such as Shrek 5 being on the 2027 release schedule) and great new originals like 2024’s The Wild Robot. It’s awesome (and history-making) to see Forgotten Island’s originality that brings Filipino representation to families! And as someone who’s seen it, not only did it’s story of friendship make me cry, its folklore was a great balance of being scary and fun.

Forgotten Island is filled with Filipino actors like H.E.R., Lea Salonga, Dolly de Leon and Jo Koy. It’s certainly an incredible way to pay tribute and introduce wide audiences to one side of Filipino culture You can help it light up the box office against a ton of other releases this Friday, September 25.

Barrett Pfeiffer is fresh out of the Big Brother house, and in a couple of weeks, he will cast his vote for the winner of that grand prize money. As such, CinemaBlend was eager to hear any thoughts he had on the remaining Houseguests. On that note, I'll admit I was surprised to hear his honest thoughts on his biggest ally, Drew Campbell, which make me wonder about Drew's odds of winning.

As the CBS reality competition series rounds out its time on the 2026 TV schedule, I had a chance to submit questions to Barrett ahead of him going into the jury house. When I asked who he was surprised to see still in the game that he wouldn't have expected early on, Drew came up. Barrett shared his thoughts on his friend and fellow Houseguest and how the rest of this game could prove challenging for him if he's in that Final Two chair:

Keep in mind that this is Drew's closest ally, openly stating that he doesn't like his chances in the late game. Barrett's not even watching Big Brother online and doesn't have the full scope of just how shady Drew could be. Is his implication that the jury may not respect his gameplay accurate, and has Drew already lost the game?

Drew playing the middle and backstabbing allies isn't a great look, but it's not like he's the only major player left who has done that. Many could say the same about Dee Valladares, who has consistently blindsided and backstabbed nearly every ally she's had.

Of course, her being a Survivor winner makes it more impressive that she's in this position, period, whereas Drew constantly selling out allies to save his own skin may feel more desperate. Yash Patel openly told Julie Chen Moonves he wouldn't vote for him, so I have to wonder how many others feel the same way.

Now, context always means everything in these interviews. Barrett was a day away from being evicted by the time of this interview, and while he is happy in the video, I'm sure his thoughts and feelings were impacted by that. He may soften his stance on Drew's game in the jury house, the same as other Houseguests when the big night arrives. Assuming Drew can make it to the end, of course, because him getting evicted before the Final Two is still a very real possibility.

Big Brother continues on CBS, but not for much longer, as the finale is set for October 1st! I can't wait to see who is crowned the winner, because I genuinely think everyone remaining has a shot at this point.

NCIS: New York is coming to the 2026 TV schedule, and we've since learned that NCIS actor Brian Dietzen will be in the premiere. That's not all, however, as CinemaBlend recently learned that other "familiar faces" will certainly pop up.

During a CBS press event promoting the network's Fall TV slate, CinemaBlend's Nick Venable had the chance to ask showrunner Byron Balasco about upcoming cameos in the new series and got a refreshingly honest answer. While it's not going to be the priority of NCIS: New York to bring in as many guest stars as possible, we can expect it to happen:

It would be strange for NCIS: New York to shy away from cameos right out of the gate, considering every other franchise show is adding a nostalgic player to the mix. Michael Weatherly will return as Tony DiNozzo in the flagship series, and Mark Harmon will reprise his role as Gibbs in flash-forwards in NCIS: Origins.

As for other actors who may show up, the showrunner didn't give any specifics beyond Dietzen. That said, I've seen NCIS' Diona Reasonover wish to be involved, and I'm sure other actors from the series will pop up. I want to see Nick Torres team up with Sam again, personally, as they're both the ultimate force when it comes to taking down the bad guys.

Also, let's not forget that LL Cool J's character was on NCIS: Los Angeles first, which opens the door for those characters to show up. I know there's a small army of fans who would love to see Eric Christian Olsen's Deeks show up again, as well as Chris O'Donnell and Daniela Ruah.

Of course, it's also important for NCIS: New York to establish its new core cast. Guest stars are always fun, but at the end of the day, the success of this show is going to hinge on the people we're guaranteed to see every week, and the mysteries they'll uncover in the Big Apple. It's the city that never sleeps, so I'm sure there's going to be no shortage of great stories to uncover.

I am curious to see how LL Cool J and Scott Caan work as a duo, especially with the latter being a primetime fixture but not part of the NCIS family. I'm sure Caan's time on Hawaii Five-0 will make this a smooth transition, as crime procedurals hit a lot of the same beats even if they don't share the same premise.

Catch the premiere of NCIS: New York on Tuesday, October 6th. I'm excited to see how the fans react to this new show, and if it can have as long of a run as some of the most-celebrated spinoffs of the crime series.

Best known for her dual status as a sitcom queen and a holiday movie maven, Candace Cameron Bure isn’t exactly a complete stranger to reality TV. She reached third place during Season 18 of Dancing with the Stars, and has shared her support for the show in subsequent years; more recently, she agreed to join The Masked Singer after turning down multiple offers, in part to honor Bob Saget, who competed in the first episode she ever watched. So how did she end up on Fox’s Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test?

The Full House and Fuller House vet talked with CinemaBlend to promote the fifth season of World’s Toughest Test hitting the 2026 TV schedule, where she’ll be seen alongside other celebs such as Ruby Rose, Breana Tiesi, Brandy Glanville and LeSean McCoy, to name a few. When I shared how excited I was to see her in the wild, given how unpredictable and scary the series can be, Bure explained why she agreed to compete despite turning down so many other reality TV offers. In her words:

Her reasoning there is, I think, one of the reasons why Special Forces: World's Toughest Test has been such a hit with its viewers. Nearly every other elimination-based unscripted series is set up so that all competitors are essentially in direct competition until a single winner emerges; from Survivor to 99 To Beat to Top Chef and beyond. Without that element in play, this show's competitors are able to just focus on bringing out the best in themselves. Which definitely applies to both the mental and physical spectrums, since being fatigued in either area could lead to one's downfall.

That mindset is just as important to maintain on Dancing with the Stars and other shows, but the risk factor involved with World's Toughest Test is far higher than what most reality TV stars have to cope with. With that in mind, I asked Candace Cameron Bure how important learning new life skills was to her as a deciding factor before agreeing to sign on. She told me:

Each season's episodes revolve around different themes and skillsets, such as Interrogation, Trust and Evasion. The Directing Staff instructors know how to take it to the limit, and I'm intrigued by the first two Season 5 installments being titled "Jungle Warfare" and "Duty." (I don't even know what I'd want to learn about myself by way of jungle warfare, if I can be blatantly honest. Maybe "how I'd escape jungle warfare the quickest?")

Luckily, as someone who has faced different kinds of adversities both inside and outside of Hollywood, Bure isn't the kind of person who backs down from something simply because it seems intimidating on the surface. Rather, the fear factor was another foundational reason for her to say yes. She explained:

I'd love to get a count on how many people would turn down the chance to be on Special Forces simply because they wouldn't be able to use their phones or tablets during the production. Which I totally get is a real concern, as would be the lack of private baths and restroom facilities, the lack of snack-filled pantries and fridges, and more creature comforts.

For all that the heights and jungle setting in Malaysia and other natural elements would be concerning, I think I'd personally also have the minor but pulsating fear of competing alongside world-class athletes whose physical prowess eclipse mine to the point where I have to voluntarily drop out of the show due to shame. But that's just me.

Join us in seeing how things shake out for Candace Cameron Bure when Special Forces: World's Toughest Test Season 5 makes its debut on Fox on Thursday, September 24, at 9:00 p.m. ET, with new episodes available to stream the next day via Hulu subscription.

Spoilers for the Season 2 premiere of Outlander: Blood of My Blood are ahead! You can stream the great series on Starz and catch new episodes every Friday.

Throughout almost the entire first season of Outlander: Blood of My Blood, I was yearning for Julia and Henry to reunite. When they did, it was magical. However, that reunion was quickly squashed at the end of Season 1 and right at the start of Season 2, as we learned that Henry traveled back to the time they came from and accidentally left Julia and their son behind. I was admittedly peeved about this separation, because it’s something that happens often on Outlander shows. So, I asked the showrunner and executive producer why it keeps happening.

Considering Julia and Henry get separated before Blood of My Blood can really get its second season started on the 2026 TV schedule, I asked showrunner and executive producer Matthew B. Roberts why they keep doing this. It happened a lot on Outlander, and it happens a lot in the spinoff too. It’s for a good reason, though, as the showrunner told me:

I know he’s right; the yearning and the longing make all these stories so epic. And to get that, you often have to either separate the characters or put a conflict in their way that highlights their love for each other. In the Outlander prequel, they often opt to split the characters up (geographically, not romantically), which means we actually don’t see Julia and Henry or Ellen and Brian together as much as we might expect (or at least as much as I expect).

Thankfully, Roberts told me that everyone should be back together a bit sooner than we might expect, as he explained:

Well, with that in mind, and knowing that Henry used Outlander’s time travel again, I’m curious to see how he gets back to Julia and how returning to their time impacts their relationship.

However, until then, we have to learn to love the anticipation of their reunion, because that’s what will make it so great. To that point, Roberts said:

Again, I know he’s right. In most romance stories, it’s about the chase and the act of getting together. Once they’re together, the story ends. In Outlander and its spinoff, the story continues after that initial meet-cute, and for Henry and Julia specifically, they were together and had Claire long before they traveled back in time and Blood of My Blood began. So, for their story to continue to be compelling, there needs to be stakes and drama, and that means separating them.

It makes sense. I get it, and I do understand that this dreadful feeling I’m having about Henry and Julia being apart again is part of the fun. Overall, it’ll make their eventual reunion even better. So, to see if that happens, you can catch new episodes of Outlander: Blood of My Blood on Fridays over on Starz.

In both Reacher and Neagley, Alan Ritchson and Maria Sten are known for being ready and able to do a lot of their own stunts. However, there are some action sequences they can’t do, and Sten told us about one featured in the first season of Neagley (which you can stream with an Amazon Prime subscription) that wasn’t “insurable.”

When CinemaBlend’s Sarah ElMahmoud interviewed Maria Sten at San Diego Comic-Con ahead of Season 1’s premiere on the 2026 TV schedule, she asked about the scene in Episode 4 when Neagley jumps out of a window and into a tree. Sten replied by calling it a “wild sequence,” and then explained that it was filmed on a stage and outside on location and then stitched together. She also revealed this was a stunt she wasn’t allowed to do:

That is a bummer, but it also makes sense. In the scene in question, Neagley is escaping a house from the top floor, and to get out she has to jump out of a window, onto a roof and into a tree. She then drops to the ground and runs away. It’s a quick but epic moment. And apparently it was high stakes enough that Sten couldn’t be insured to do it. So, her stunt double did it, as the actress recalled:

Overall, I do get why this was the case. Even if the actors are perfectly capable of doing stunts and do most of them themselves, sometimes you need a double to step in. So, in this moment during the Reacher spinoff, Sten’s stunt double had to do the jump.

Plus, it’s well documented that Alan Ritchson has been thrown through walls, injured and needed surgery because of the action in Reacher. There is risk in filming shows like this, so precautions need to be taken. And in Neagley’s case, that meant Maria Sten wasn’t insured on this tree stunt.

I am curious if this happened with other action sequences throughout the well-reviewed first season of Neagley. I’d also love to know about some of the stunts Sten was able to do herself. I know she’s a remarkable action star, and as she said, she loves to do her own stunts when she can. So, next time I watch Neagley, you better believe I’ll be paying close attention to her action-packed moments.

If you’d like to do the same, or if you haven’t watched the first season of Neagley yet, you can do so right now with an Amazon Prime subscription. Trust me, it’s worth it for all the action, including this “wild” stunt that Maria Sten wasn’t insured for.

Another Resident Evil movie is upon us, and this one is helmed by none other than Zach Cregger. The highly anticipated video game adaptation hit theaters this weekend and, so far, it’s really drumming up some buzz. Cregger’s latest flick is earning rave reviews from critics and fans alike. Such a film is right up Cregger’s ally, given his work within the horror genre and, as one might expect, he doesn’t get scared too often. However, he recently revealed that one entry from the Resident franchise did manage to give him chills.

Even with just a few horror titles under his belt as a director, Cregger has managed to delight and frighten audiences with some creepy stories. Barbarian and Weapons alone are enough evidence of the filmmaker’s penchant for giving audiences chills. So, on that note, what scares the man responsible for creating the unsettling mother and the enigmatic Aunt Gladys? Cregger recently spoke to SFX Magazine on CinemaBlend about his 2026 movie schedule offering and revealed that one relatively recent RE game threw him for a loop:

Village is truly a terrifying entry in the iconic video game franchise, and that’s saying a lot. Released in 2021, the game centers on protagonist Ethan Winters who – following a tragedy – is forced to search for his baby daughter in a small and creepy European town. What Ethan finds are various creatures led by lords, and that includes a towering, aristocratic vampire by the name of Lady Dimitrescu, who became something of an icon amongst fans after appearing in the game.

Playing Resident Evil Village at all is one thing, but the mere thought of taking on that entry via Playstation VR makes my skin crawl. So believe me when I say I completely understand Zach Cregger being afraid while taking in the horror and gore of the game that way. When it came to his contribution to the film franchise, Cregger was quite cerebral in how he approached the proceedings, including the gore. He laid out his take while speaking with SFX:

Viewers had high hopes for Cregger’s Resident Evil, as the previous installments (which have their fair share of fans) aren’t exactly critical darlings. This movie centers around a new hero – medical courier named Bryan (Austin Abrams) – who finds himself dealing with infected creatures in Raccoon City. So far, the movie has received considerable praise for its direction, performances, scares and similarities to the games’ motifs. That acclaim has resulted in the film being the highest-rated installment in the horror movie franchise.

There’s certainly a reason that this movie has been successful and that Zach Cregger’s last two flicks have become pop culture fixtures. It’s because the man knows how to tell a unique and compelling story that offers up spooky thrills but never loses sight of the characters. Also, I appreciate a good scarer who can admit to being scared. On that note, check out Cregger’s Resident Evil and, while you’re at it, read up on upcoming horror movies.

Johnny Knoxville’s latest movie, Tiny Fugitives, which hit the 2026 movie schedule this weekend, is a simple summer camp movie. Sure, Knoxville pulls off some really fun stunts, but it’s definitely not a Jackass movie. Still, there is one scene in the movie that isn’t a stunt that I just had to ask him about. It involves an electrified fence, reminiscent of the first Jurassic Park. No one was harmed in the production of the scene, but I wondered if, deep down, Knoxville had wished the electricity had been turned on. When I asked Knoxville about it, he admitted that it might have been better if it had been.

In the scene, Knoxville, who plays an overzealous camp counselor trying to thwart some campers' dreams of staying at summer camp forever, is pursuing the kids when he comes upon an electric fence. Everyone watching can see what’s coming from a mile away, but I was still ready to see it actually happen. As Knoxville’s character Bob starts to climb the fence, the kids turn the electricity on and zap! 10,000 volts (or whatever) coursing through Bob. Obviously, this wasn't Jackass; it wasn’t actually turned on. Here’s what Knoxville said about not being a “real” stunt when I asked if he wished it were:

He still nailed the scene in the movie, of course. After watching Jackass: Best and Last earlier this year, I knew Knoxville’s days of doing really intense stunts were over, but I’m glad he still thinks that kind of thing would be fun.

Tiny Fugitives is really about the kids, though, and as funny as Bob the counselor is, he never really upstages those kids. In fact, I loved the movie less for Knoxville’s stunts (though they were fun) and more because the kids are really funny as they deliver some of the most explicit lines in the movie. There’s just something hilarious about kids swearing that gets me every time.

Knoxville may be the name at the top of the movie poster, but it’s his co-stars like Benjamin Pajak, Aaron Harris, and Isa Bernal Steiner who make the raunchy summer camp comedy really come to life. Knoxville is great, don’t get me wrong, but he understood the assignment. Let the kids shine.

Meanwhile, if you want to see Knoxville actually get hurt doing stunts, most of the Jackass series is available with a Paramount+ subscription. If you want to see him get outwitted by a bunch of precocious and foul-mouthed kids, check out Tiny Fugitives.

We talk a lot about the importance of intimacy coordinators and what it’s like for actors to film sex scenes together. Now, as Outlander: Blood of My Blood returns for its second season on the 2026 TV schedule, I spoke to the cast about what it’s like to film more intimate moments after working together for a long time. In response, Harriet Slater and Jamie Roy, who play Ellen and Brian, respectively, told me one fact about how they shoot the show that helps their level of “trust.”

When I interviewed the cast of Outlander: Blood of My Blood, I asked them how filming sex scenes has evolved between Seasons 1 and 2. Overall, it really hasn’t changed much. And it’s in that lack of change that they’ve been able to develop an “increased” level of trust, as Slater said:

This goes along with what the show’s other stars told us during Season 1 about filming intimate moments. Hermione Corfield and Jeremy Irvine, who play Julia and Henry, have known each other for a decade. So, there was a lot of trust between them already, which helped them deal with the “controlled uncomfortableness” of the situation.

It’s not just the actors who know each other better, though; the directors and crew do too. And having the same team on Season 2 has really allowed for that “trust” the actors spoke about. To that point, Jamie Roy told me:

Much like its predecessor, this Outlander prequel does not shy away from showing these couples in their most intimate moments. So, I’m thrilled that the team that films this show is able to continue working together to really develop trust among one another so they can make this show to the best of their abilities and in the most comfortable way.

To hone in on that point, Azhur Saleem, who directed Episodes 8, 9 and 10 of Season 1, is credited as the director on Episodes 1, 3, 6, 7 and 8 of Season 2, per IMDb. So, the cast and crew have been able to develop a long-term relationship as they continue to film this show.

The cast of Outlander had high praise for how intimacy was handled on their show, and the same is true for the spinoff. Now that they’re in Season 2, there’s an even higher degree of trust as the actors are working with many of the same people they worked with on Season 1.

With all that said, we’re in for a romantic and wild ride with Season 2 of Outlander: Blood of My Blood, and I’m so happy the cast and crew trust each other so much and are able to make this epic romance. Now, to see what they’ve been working on, you can stream the premiere of Blood of My Blood’s second season alongside Outlander and other great shows on Starz. After that, new episodes will drop weekly on Fridays.

Spoilers ahead for The Weight.

Padraic McKinley's The Weight hits theaters this weekend, and features a stellar cast of familiar faces. It remains to be seen if fans think of it as one of Ethan Hawke's best movies, but the 5-time Oscar nominee gives an incredible performance throughout its 113-minute runtime. Both he and the movie's director spoke to CinemaBlend about the movie's wildly satisfying ending.

Ethan Hawke did some dangerous stunts in The Weight, and after his character Samuel Murphy endured his dangerous journey across the wilderness, he and his surviving companions have a juicy last confrontation with Russell Crowe's Warden Clancy. As you can see above, I asked both the cast and filmmaker about that finale, with Julia Jones offering a peek behind the curtain about that final Clancy scene. As she revealed:

How wild is that? Moviemaking is a tricky thing, and oftentimes actors are tasked with shooting scenes out of chronological order. The big ending scene with Russell Crowe was shot early into the Dexter: New Blood star's tenure playing Anna, and it sounds like it helped Jones zero in on the movie's tone and story as a whole. Talk about a happy accident.

Ethan Hawke also spoke about that big scene with Crowe, and had similar feelings about how shooting helped to set up the cast and crew of The Weight for success. As the Black Phone star told me:

That's certainly one way of looking at things. But the analogy does make sense; just like losing one's virginity, filming the first complicated scene in any movie can be filled with nerves and high stakes. It can also bring people together, and it appears that's exactly what happened in the epic final confrontation in The Weight.

After Samuel, Anna, and their friends make a life-changing deal with Crowe's Clancy, we get the final moments of the film. Namely when Ethan Hawke's protagonist is finally free from his sentence, and able to reunite with his daughter Penny. The movie ends just as it begins, with Samuel and Penny driving together and laughing. Director Padraic McKinley spoke to me about crafting that full circle moment, telling me:

Samuel and his daughter once again driving into the sunset together was an obvious example of the cyclical nature of The Weight. We also see character interact with him in reverse order during the second half of the film, which really wraps things up in a satisfying way.

Joy isn't something that Hawke's character experiences much of throughout the movie's runtime. He nearly dies a number of times, and is basically beat to pulp prior to the aforementioned scene with Russell Crowe. Luckily The Weight's final moments feature laughter between a father and his daughter, as the pair drive off into their happy ending. Later in our conversation, McKinley spoke about the film's final moments, and how he connects with it on a personal level. He told me:

Lots of kids and parents connect while driving, and in this way The Weight's conclusion brought the period piece and the modern world closer together. On top of the good guy winning in the end, this full circle moment also really helped the movie stick the landing. It's a wonderful ride, and the action sequences were legitimately thrilling. Still, the happy ending was the cherry on top.

The Weight is in theaters now as part of the 2026 movie release list. It's always a good day when Ethan Hawke has a new movie out, and this one accomplished a ton with an indie budget.

Spoilers for Episodes 4 and 5 of Neagley are ahead! You can stream all of Season 1 with an Amazon Prime subscription.

I have a feeling very few people have been asked to get into a pit full of fake dead bodies as part of their job. However, that did happen to Jasper Jones, who plays Keno on the Reacher spinoff Neagley. So, as the show premiered on the 2026 TV schedule, I had to ask him what filming that wild sequence was like.

So, in Episode 4 of Neagley, Keno finds out that the folks at the farm are killing a lot of people and then disposing of the bodies by burning them in a pit. In Episode 5, he winds up in the pit and has to escape it. According to Jasper Jones, they used two pits to film all this:

In the sequences, you can see Jones buried in bags full of body parts, both in the back of a truck and in the pit. Notably, once Keno was in the pit, he had to climb out of it. By stacking the bags, he was able to get to the top; however, amid that, he was also dealing with fire that was coming through holes in the giant hole. Speaking about how they did all that on set, Jones told me:

Well, no, I don’t think that’s normal. However, it’s all part of the filmmaking game. Sometimes, the script calls for a pit full of dead bodies, and then the actor has to be around fake ones. While it’s not dangerous or gross or anything, it is, as Jones put it, “intense.”

Funnily enough, right after he said that, his co-star, Greyston Holt, joked that this whole thing is “something the average person goes through.” It certainly isn’t, but it was a very cool, intense and epic moment in the show, and Jones told me it was “great to do the action.”

I have to imagine that wild sequences like this are part of what makes shows like this fun to create. Alan Ritchson has spoken often about his stunts and how hard they can be (remember the Reacher vs. Paulie fight?), and we know Maria Sten can lead an action show. They’re also both very committed to it. It would seem their co-stars have a similar mindset.

Now, to see all of this, and to see Keno get himself out of a pit with dead bodies, you can stream Neagley (which is getting good reviews) on Amazon Prime.

Skyler Gisondo is having a moment, for sure. He co-starred as Jimmy Olsen in last year’s Superman, from director James Gunn, and he has an upcoming DC show based on the iconic character. He’s also starring in the upcoming A24 film Primetime, which will hit the 2026 movie schedule on September 25. Then, of course, he’ll be in the upcoming DC movie, Man of Tomorrow, which will hit the 2027 movie schedule next summer. Whew! He’s busy, but we had a chance to catch up with him to talk about all things Primetime and DC, including Jimmy’s aversion to weird feet. Here’s what he told us about that and the upcoming The People v. Gorilla Grodd.

James Gunn is working hard to make each DC film or TV show unique, and The People v. Gorilla Grodd is a perfect example of this. We don’t know a whole lot about the show yet, but we asked Gisondo about Jimmy’s anti-foot fetish, which was the reason he broke up with Eve Teschmacher (Sara Sampaio) in Superman, which Eve claimed was because she had “toes that look like someone spilled shrimp cocktail on them.” When we asked if Jimmy was over his problem, he told us:

Which is good, because the new show sounds like it’s going to be very different from anything else in the DC: it’s a mockumentary. That tracks, as the showrunners are Dan Perrault and Tony Yacenda, who developed the true-crime mockumentary series American Vandal, which you can watch with a Netflix subscription. Like Vandal, Gorilla Grodd is also a true-crime parody, as Gisondo explained:

That plays perfectly into the vibe–or lack of common vibes–James Gunn and Peter Safran are bringing to the relaunched franchise. Every project, from Superman to Supergirl to the TV shows like Peacemaker and The People v. Gorilla Grodd, has been a very different kind of movie or show. Gisondo is excited about it, as he told us:

I think I speak for many when I say I am very confident in the talent involved in The People v. Gorilla Grodd, which will be available to stream with an HBO Max subscription when it is released.